Lifetime Piling Up
by suki1916
Summary: This a continuation of Nathan's dream while he was in the hospital. What if he was the boy from the 'wrong side of the tracks? RR
1. Sweetness

Sweetness

Nathan groaned as he heard a knocking at the door. Looking at his clock he realized it was only 6 am and that meant it could only be one person. Instead of acknowledging her he opted to roll over and bury himself underneath the covers. No such luck. Haley opened the door and hopped up onto his bed.

"Nathan get up. I need to talk to you before I go to school. Come on, get up." Haley begged as he ignored her.

"Sometimes I really wish I didn't have that door in my room. Then maybe the girls I wanted to come into my room would and you wouldn't." he said grumbling at her. She look hurt for a few seconds and then smiled.

"Well first off, probably not. Second, I would just have to come in your window and knowing the klutz I am, I would cause more trouble doing that than banging on your door." she said laughing. "Now get up and meet me in the kitchen. Your mom already went to work so that left me to fend to you." she said and hopped off the bed.

Nathan groaned again mumbling about how early it was as he slipped on a pair of jeans. He finally stumbled into the kitchen where Haley was leaning over the counter reading some papers and eating some kind of chocolate sweet. "What the hell are you doing here so early? Not everyone wants to wake up at the crack of dawn. What are you eating?"

"What does it matter what I'm eating? Besides I have to be at the tutoring center in like half and hour to meet a new student. Well not a new student to the school but to my tutoring. I forgot to get his name, I hope it's not someone completely annoying like that kid Neil…" Haley started to ramble. She was entirely too busy focusing on Nathan's bare chest to concentrate. Whoa, snap out of it Haley.

"Haley…I get it. Gah, how do you stay so thin? It's unnatural how much you eat." he said grimacing at her and the chocolate on her face. He reached up and wiped it from her corner of her mouth. He stared at for a minute on his finger trying to figure out what to do with it and she grabbed his finger and licked it off. "Eww…Haley, that's gross." he said wiping his finger on his jeans.

"Sorry." she said unsympathetically. "Ok, so maybe I'm not. Anyway, this whole thing with Lucas right…listen don't give me that look ok? I'm just saying I think he may lay off since you kicked his ass and I know you start practice today and I just think both of you need to like seriously take a pill and swallow it." She knew it was a sore subject but she didn't really want to hear him complain for the rest of the season.

"So what? You're taking his side now? I remember when you and I just were in our own little world and then that jackass came into it and wanted what I wanted and he couldn't handle it. He's a prick and I just want to play basketball. You act like he's such a saint. You like him or something?" he asked clearly getting angry.

"NO! What would make you think that?" she looked at him and he was giving her a look she knew that meant he didn't believe her. "Ok so maybe I do a little bit. God, get over it. It's not like you don't come from the same genes. Your both gorgeous…"

"So you don't or can't have me so you go to him?" he asked clearly upset.

"What? No, it's not like that. Look, I'm just like every other girl Nathan. I can like Lucas Scott. That doesn't mean I'm gonna hop in bed with him or fawn over him. He doesn't even know I exist. Just don't worry about it ok?" he nodded slowly.

"Ok I'm sorry. It's too early to hear you talking about him like that. Screw that, it's never gonna be ok for you to talk about him like that. You're too good for him Haley. Don't set yourself so low." he said sweetly.

"You set me to a higher standard than everyone else and its not really fair. Besides your obsessed with Peyton and that's so much better. Broody artist and broody jock. Yeah, match made in heaven." she said sarcastically.

"Ok truce. And I don't obsess over Peyton. K, really truce now." he said holding up his hands.

"So High Fliers…three whole months? What am I going to do without you for a whole summer?" she said getting quite serious and starting to pout.

"Dream about Lucas? Alright bad joke. You'll be fine Hales. Don't look at me like that. You know I'll miss you." he said sincerely.

"Yeah, I know. Me too. Alright listen, I gotta go but every spare second this year goes to me. Got it?" she said sternly.

"Sure Hales, whatever you need." he said chuckling. She walked over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. To Nathan's surprise he felt something in his stomach tingling. He shrugged it off to being hungry. "Don't miss me too much."

"Miss me a lot." she said smiling, heading out the door. "Oh by the way, you stink. Get in the shower."

Peyton was in her room looking up at the ceiling. For some reason she didn't feel anything right at that moment. She was void of any emotion. She wasn't even tired even though she spend half the night with Lucas. That being said, the majority of her night was fighting and making up the 'proper way' as Lucas liked to put it. She felt nothing anymore when they had sex. That's all it was to her really. At one point in time, she could honestly say that what they had was special. That quickly faded as fast as Lucas rose in popularity. He didn't want her, he just wanted the sex and she really wished she could feel something about that but she didn't. That was Lucas, there was no changing that.

"So bestest friend on the planet, what grand thing are you going to do with the prettiest friend on earth today?" Brooke said bouncing in and plopping on the bed. "Because I seriously want to snatch up that eye candy called Nathan Scott. He starts practice today." she practically squealed. Peyton just laughed and hit her with a pillow. "How great is that? You get to marry one Scott boy and I get the other."

"Somehow I don't think Lucas and I getting married is in the cards but I wish you luck on your Scott brother conquest." Peyton sighed as Brooke gave her a confused look. "He's a jackass Brooke. I don't even know why I stay with him. All we do is fight and all he does is cheat on me. Fight, cheat, have sex. That's my life. Oh yeah and I tend to brood with crappy music too. Forgot that part." she said sarcastically.

"No one said you had to stay with him Peyton. Hell, why don't you go after the broody brother? You can brood together. It would totally piss off Lucas and it might straighten him up a bit. Or not." she said smiling.

"He's going for tutoring this morning. Whitey kicked his ass and told him to pull his grades up or he wasn't going to start anymore. I don't know if he could even do that giving the fact that Dan Scott is his father. The supreme jackass of them all."

"Lucas in tutoring? Ha, lets see how long that lasts before someone gets killed. Anyway, you need to get your skinny ass up P. Sawyer and look hot so we can go to school."

Haley had been there for 10 minutes with no sign of the student in such desperate need for her help. She was told he had asked for her specifically and she didn't know if that was because she was the quiet shy type that tended to attract the 'bad ass' guys that couldn't get her or for her talent to help people. She was about to leave when she ran smack into a hard chest. She looked up and locked eyes with one of the bluest set of eyes she had even seen. "Can…can I help you?" she managed to stammer out. He hadn't let her go and she was still close to him. Suddenly she willed herself away.

"What do you think I need? I'm in a tutoring center." Lucas smirked at her and she didn't like his attitude.

"Well no wonder you need one; with an attitude like that I wouldn't doubt many teachers like you." she spat back at him.

"You're a feisty little thing aren't you?" he said as he walked past her and sat down. She remained standing and glaring at him. "Well tutor girl are you coming or did I just get up at the crack of dawn for no reason?"

"First off, you're late. Second, I'm not tutoring you. I can't. Nathan is my best friend but I'm sure you already knew that. Probably why you requested me personally just to screw with him. Well I'm not doing it." she huffed at him and he continued to stare, unmoved.

"I requested you because you're the best. And it doesn't hurt that your hot. I could care less if your sleeping with Nathan. Let me guess…You're not. Whatever. Can we just get on with this?" he said clearly not giving up. Haley had never been so angry in her life. She now understood clearly how Nathan loathed him. At the same time, Haley felt oddly attracted to him and she didn't like it. She shook her head and grabbed her bag.

"You knock yourself out. I'm not tutoring you. I'll find you someone else." she said before slamming out the door. She walked down the hallway a few feet before she was grabbed suddenly. She spun around ready to fight. She locked in with his blue eyes again and saw them pleading with her.

"Please, you're the best and I need this. Basketball is everything to me. It's bad enough he stole High Fliers from…"

"He didn't steal anything. He earned that on your terms even when you threw him in the mud in the middle of nowhere." she said firmly. Inside, she was hysterical. She was still in his grasp and he made no move to let go.

"Fine. Look, if I don't pass, I can't start and if I can't start then there goes my life. My dad will be riding me and I can't deal with that right now. I feel like he's stealing my life away." Haley stood there confused for a moment and suddenly realized he meant Nathan. The compassionate part of Haley felt horrible for him. He seemed so sad.

"I…I really don't think that's such a good idea…" she said meekly. She knew she would give in.

"Let her go!" she heard someone from down the hall. She instantly recognized the voice of Nathan. Lucas suddenly let go and Haley stumbled back from his grasp. Nathan walked over and positioned himself in between Haley and Lucas. "Don't you even think about laying a hand on her again." To Haley's surprise Lucas didn't argue with him. They just glared at one another.

"Nathan, he…I…I'm tutoring him." both boys turned and looked at her clearly surprised. Haley wanted to run. She felt sick. One boy looked at her thankful and obviously surprised and the other looked mad as hell.

"No your not." Nathan said suddenly grabbing her hand and dragging her down the hall. She quickly released herself from him and turned to face him.

"You can't do that Nathan. You know what tutoring means to me. I supported you now you need to back off. You're acting like a jealous boyfriend. This has nothing to do with earlier." she said the last sentence more quietly. Peyton and Brooke decided to come stumbling in at that moment in hysterics about something. They stopped laughing seeing everyone in the hall. Nathan and Haley arguing and Lucas looking on trying to stifle a laugh. Brooke was the first one to speak.

"Well isn't this an interesting combination." she said flashing a smile. Peyton groaned. This was not her morning. Haley started to walk away and both Lucas and Nathan started to walk after her. Nathan turned around and glared at Lucas.

"This doesn't concern you. Just stay away from her. Ruin my life all you want…her…just stay away." Nathan said sternly. Haley stopped walking and turned to listen.

"This has nothing to do with you man. I will make your life miserable, don't worry but I'm not doing this to you. I didn't even really know about her. She was the best so that's what I wanted." Lucas said trying to sound sincere and to anyone other than Peyton would buy it. She didn't.

"The only way this is going to work is if you don't make his life miserable. I will not tutor you; I won't even consider it. You back off from him and I'll do it. If you can do that, I'll get you through the season. That's my terms. You want the best you have to do that." Haley said suddenly walking up.

"Haley, don't do this. It's not worth it. I don't want him in yours or my life any more than he needs to be." Nathan said concerned.

"What are the two of you? Are you dating or what? You two act like your just all each other has." Brooke said disgusted.

"We're friends ok? A boy and a girl can be friends with benefits; something you probably wouldn't know about." Nathan spat back at her. "Come on, Hales. I'll walk you to class." Haley nodded and looked at Lucas.

"I'll let you know later when we can start ok?"

"Sure, whatever." Lucas grumbled walking off.

Peyton was pissed. She knew Lucas was only using Haley and it didn't sit well with her. It wasn't the fact that she was Lucas' girlfriend, she was used to his infidelity. This went on some whole other sick level and she wasn't going to deal with it. She started to walk after Lucas but his long legs made it much more difficult.

"Lucas, wait." she said trying to catch her breath.

"What do you want Peyton? I'm not in the mood for this right now?" he yelled as he spun around.

"Don't do this Lucas. I don't buy your sincere crap that you try to pull. You're not. Why would you do that?"

"Because I want to and I can." he sneered back at her and jerked his arm away from her grasp. He walked off leaving her standing there.

Haley's mind was in some other world. How could this be happening right now? She didn't want to hurt Nathan but part of her really wanted to help Lucas. She knew this could only end up one way: bad. She never really did anything for herself though and she was thinking that maybe it was time to do so. She stopped walking and let Nathan's hand drop from the small of her back. She turned and looked up at him.

"I'm not doing this to hurt you." she said quietly. He wouldn't mean her eyes so she reached up and pulled his head to hers. Their foreheads were touching and he finally met her gaze. "I don't care enough about him to let him hurt me. I'll be ok. I'm tougher than you think."

"You're the toughest person I know." he said smiling, his hand still on hers that rested on his cheeks. They hadn't moved and they hadn't unlocked their gaze. "I just worry about you. I don't want to kill him just yet. I'd like to make him suffer." he said and they both laughed. She pulled back and playfully hit him in his arm.

"I think if I can handle you and all your brooding than I can handle your brother and whatever jackass tendencies he has. Which by the way, really shone in you today. I forgive you though because I love you. I gotta go to class though. See you later?"

"Yeah I know and I'm sorry. I'll find you after practice. Don't miss me too much." he said kissing her on her forehead.

"Miss me a lot." she said smiling and walking away.


	2. Betrayal

_Author's Note: Enjoy and thanks for all the reviews. Please keep leaving them. Thanks!_

Betrayal

Nathan grimaced coming out of the locker room. He hadn't expected practice to so rough. Ok, so he knew it would be hard, just not as hard. Lucas hadn't really helped much either. He was constantly riding him and all it did was frustrate Nathan more. So now he could tell Haley to back off and everything would be ok again because Lucas obviously wasn't keeping up his end of the bargain. He bent down and took a sip from the water fountain and leaned his back up against the wall to rest. Lucas came out a few seconds later and Nathan fought the urge to say something to him. He failed.

"So looks like you'll have to find yourself a new tutor dumbass." he said smirked at Lucas.

"Oh and what makes you think that?" Lucas said stopping and returning the smirk.

"You were riding me the whole practice. Give me a break. I've never even been on a team before."

"Like that's such an excuse. I ride everyone. I want to be the best team and I can't do that if everyone else on the team sucks. It has nothing person to do with you. It doesn't even matter that you've never been on a team before. You just have to make the ball when it counts. Besides, you want to be in High Fliers? You need to suck it up and get over it. " Nathan couldn't believe that Lucas was actually being civil to him. Lucas started to walk away and Nathan saddled up beside him.

"I swear to God, if you lay one finger on her or hurt her in any way you will suffer miserably." Nathan said sternly and Lucas didn't reply. He just nodded.

"Look, I know I'm not the nicest person in the world but give me a break. I wouldn't hurt her to get to you. I'm not that heartless. I just wanna pass and play. That's it."

"Well I'm just saying it better be it." Nathan responded and started to walk away from him. Lucas stopped him.

"Ugg…wait. I can't believe I'm about to actually say this. You weren't half-way bad out there. You need to get your endurance up and start lifting weights full time. Maybe someday you can work out with Tim and I." Lucas said quietly. It was clearly killing him to say this to Nathan.

"Me and Tim." Nathan corrected.

"Oh, you two have a thing?" Lucas remarked sarcastically.

"Ha ha, funny. The obvious comedian of the family…" Nathan cringed calling him family but thankfully didn't have to recover since Haley walked up. She looked between the two of them and confusion passed across her face. It quickly left and a smile replace it. "What? Say what you have on your mind."

"Oh me? Nothing. What would make you think I had something to say?" she asked coyly, her smile never leaving.

"Yeah whatever, I know that look. It's like the cat swallowed the canary. Spill." he said looking her sternly. She pouted for a few seconds and shrugged.

"WELL…it's just that seeing the two of you together and one or both of you not throwing a punch or kidnapping the other is kinda amusing. It's very interesting. Ah, the male bonding rituals…fascinating." she said laughing. Nathan just stood there clearly not amused. Lucas on the other hand had started smiling at the banter between the two friends who claimed no love attachment.

"Can we please get on with it? I want to hurry up and see this horrid movie so I can go home and die in peace. I feel like I'm already dead." Nathan replied and Haley stopped smiling and started looking concerned. "Oh hey, don't worry." he said trying to soothe her.

"Look, we don't have to go. I mean I can wait until this weekend when you're not so tired. I completely spaced and totally forgot that you might be tired after your first practice and my 6 am wake up call. You should go home and rest." she assured him.

"I'm really ok Hales. I'll just fall asleep on your shoulder like always and you'll yell at me afterwards and enlighten me on what I missed. Which by the way it completely better than watching the movie in the first place." he said smiling at her and tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear.

Lucas looked on trying desperately not to laugh at the spectacle. Yeah, this would definitely be interesting. He cleared his throat and they turned suddenly realizing that they weren't alone. The look of shock registered on their faces was priceless. Lucas felt brilliant idea coming on. Yeah, this would be good.

"I forgot you were here." Haley said stepping back from Nathan and trying to straighten herself. To her, what had just happened was just everyday stuff but to other people it looked like there was something more than there really was.

"I find that very hard to believe. Most people never forget me." Lucas replied.

"You're so cocky, it makes me want to gag." Haley retorted trying not to laugh. Nathan didn't crack a smile. In fact, he was getting quite annoyed with the two of them.

"Are we going or not?" Nathan wined his annoyance showing though.

"Just walk me home; we'll see the movie later. Ok?" Haley replied still laughing. "Oh, Lucas, umm…tutoring center at 7 tomorrow and don't be late this time. Or a jackass." she said before her and Nathan headed out the door.

20 minutes later they were walking onto Haley's porch. She turned and looked at him, a scowl still etched on his face and started to laugh.

"What's so damn funny?" he bit at her and she tousled his hair.

"Hey, don't take that tone with me buddy. You, you're so funny. It's really getting to you, this whole Lucas thing huh?" she asked getting serious.

"No it's not. He was actually nice to me today after practice. I just think he's up to something."

"Ok, James Bond, slow down. He can't be nice just to be nice?" she asked sitting down on the porch swing and motioning him to sit beside her which he reluctantly did. "Nathan I told you he would let up on you this morning. You killed him on that court and you should be happy. You have everything you need; basketball, High Fliers, your looks, and of course the most important thing…"

"So that's the second time today you said I looked good." he smirked at her.

"You would pick up on that part of the sentence. And you're nothing alike Lucas are you?" she asked sarcastically planting a similar smirk on her own face. "Besides you have me, that's the most important thing." Haley continued replacing the smirk with her genuine smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. If he hurts you though…he's dead." he replied half-way joking. He didn't know why all of a sudden he was getting so jealous. Haley had tutored guys before. Hell, she had even went on dates before and he had been worried but supportive either way. He knew the bad things he could do to her and it would break him if she had a broken heart.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." she returned mocking him. "You're free to go now. I release you of any further duty." she said majestically and Nathan just laughed at her. He leaned over and kissed her cheek before getting up and walking away.

"Don't miss me too much." he called out not turning around.

"Miss me a lot!" she yelled back walking in the door.

Brooke and Peyton had left cheerleading practice dead tired and all they both wanted to do was return to bed. Peyton blamed Brooke since it was a week until the first game and Brooke was pulling a Hitler and being a total psycho. "God, Brooke could you be any more demanding?" she wined when they finally got to her bed and she laid down.

"I have to be. The rest of the so called team won't even work hard like I do so I have to be a total bitch to be good. And believe me we will be." she smirked.

"So this may totally be lame but I'm kinda worried about Lucas. Well more like Haley." Peyton said changing the subject.

"Why would you be worried about her? You don't even know her. I mean besides all that she's a big girl. I think her and Nathan have a thing anyway even if they deny it profusely."

"Ooo…big word. Just because there may be something with her and Nathan; and I don't think there is, that doesn't mean the jackass in Lucas won't come between them. It's something he would do too. "

"Peyton, please. Give me a break. Why does it even matter. You know, lets just drop this. If you want to care then care. I don't really want to hear about it anymore." Brooke ranted.

"So what's up your ass that's got you so pissy about all this? What do you like Nathan or something? Oh I get it. Lucas gets Haley to fall madly in love with him and she forgets all about Nathan who you want."

"Well that might be plausible if you weren't still with Lucas. Or are you? I just can never tell with the two of you." Brooke sneered.

"Umm…actually I was going to break up with him. Not like you care. Maybe you should just go." Peyton said walking into the bathroom. Brooke huffed for a few seconds and got up and left.

Haley had decided that studying for her history test would be the best thing she could do to relax herself. This day had been entirely too long and too much for her. She didn't even know Lucas that much and she was risking her friendship with Nathan to tutor him. And what if Nathan was right? What is Lucas was just using her? She didn't really want to think it was an option. Besides that, he had a girlfriend and she wasn't going to allow it to happen. "HALEY!" she heard her mother call up the stairs. "Someone here to see you." she hopped up thinking it was Nathan and ran down the stairs. She was shocked to see Lucas standing in her foyer. "Haley, you want to introduce me to your friend." her mother said sweetly.

"He's not my friend." Haley said, her gaze not removed from Lucas. He was smirking at her, the same smirk that always unnerved her. Haley woke up from her trance and smiled. "He's a student I'm tutoring. Oh, Mom…Lucas Scott. Lucas, my mom." they shook hands and her mother looked confused. "Yes, Mom, it's Nathan's brother. Umm…can you excuse us?" she asked her mother not giving her a chance to answer before dragging Lucas outside onto her porch. "What are you doing here?"

"Well this might be nosey or presumptuous but I overheard Nathan saying he didn't want to go to the movie and I thought we could go. Or not, it's totally cool." he said smiling at her. Haley sucked in her breath and let it out all at once throwing her bangs in her face. Lucas reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I…that…that wasn't part of the deal. I can't do that to Nathan. I'm already taking a huge risk tutoring you I can't go out on a date with you." she said sitting down on the same porch swing as earlier in which Lucas promptly sat down beside her.

"What makes you think this is a date?" he asked amused. He saw the blush rise on her cheeks.

"I…I didn't mean to presume. I just didn't know what else to call that. Oh, I'm an idiot. You have a girlfriend. You know for being so smart, I'm really dumb sometimes." she stammered. She was biting her lower lip, a nervous tick she had since she was a child. She didn't know why she was so nervous.

"You're not dumb. Look, lets just go to the movie, as friends, and if you totally hate it you can bail at any time. Oh come on, I'm not that bad." he said smiling at her.

"I just don't really know…"

"So you're gonna live your life in his shadow? Do you think he'd think twice about making a move on Peyton…my girlfriend?" he said anger rising in his voice.

"Probably not but Peyton isn't some long lost half-sister who I hate either. You don't have to get an attitude with me."

"Ok, look I'm sorry but it's not a date or anything. Just think of it as a pre-tutoring interview. I have one more time to be a jackass and then you're relieved of being my tutor. Please. I never disappoint." he said winking at her and she laughed.

"Come on superstar. But the second you be a jackass I'm punching you. Deal?"

"Deal." he replied laughing.

Nathan lie in his bed throwing his ball up and down. He said he was tired and he couldn't even go to sleep. He felt awful about ditching Haley but she understood. She always did. He was so upset about her and Lucas that it didn't make sense to him. They had a past but that was just it…in the past. He didn't have any claim on her right now. She could live her life. He just didn't want to pick up the pieces if Lucas hurt her. It would hurt him too much. He decided he would forego his fatigue and go to the movie with Haley.

15 minutes later he was knocking on Haley's door. She hadn't answered her cell phone and that kinda worried him. He had even tried to throw rocks at her window but to no avail. He hated confronting her mother. She was always nagging about if and when he and Haley were going to get married. It bugged him but he gave up. He shrugged, took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Luckily he was greeted by her father who was a lot less overbearing.

"Oh hey Nate, come on in." he said stepping aside and letting Nathan in. "So are we ready for the first game? I heard Haley saying something about it."

"Yeah, practice was rough today. That's kinda why I'm here. I blew off Haley to rest but I was hoping I could hang out with her. Is she here?" he asked. They were still standing in the foyer and Nathan was surprised Haley hadn't come bounding down the stairs. Apparently she wasn't here was he didn't really like.

"Umm…she went out, I think. Hold on. Lydia! Where's Haley!" he yelled into the kitchen. Lydia came in a few seconds later wearing a smile and wiping her hands on a towel.

"Nathan dear! How are you?" she said throwing her arms around him. "You're not avoiding me are you? Of course you're not. I never get to see you anymore. You always have my daughter out to all hours of the night. Oh yeah, back to my original question. How are you?"

"Uh, I'd be really good if I knew where your genius of a daughter were here." he said chuckling. "I wanted to go to a movie with her but I was wore out from practice and now I'm not so much so I want to see her."

"Oh, I figured you knew. She went out with your brother Lucas. Something about going to the movies. They just left, I'm sure you could catch them." she said and Nathan mumbled what he hoped sounded like a thank you before bolting out the door.

10 minutes and out of breath later, Nathan stood in front of the movie theater. He was seething. He was pretty sure he had beaten them there. Or at least he hoped. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity which in all actually was probably about two minutes. Finally he heard her laugh and saw them rounding the corner. Haley looked up and suddenly stopped laughing.

"Nathan…what…what are you doing here?" she stammered out. She was still clutching Lucas' arm and it had Nathan seeing red.

"Well I figured I see a movie with my best friend but you conveniently found a substitute." walking up to her and whispering in her ear, "I thought this had nothing to do with you liking him?" he said before walking off.

"Nathan…wait!" she yelled after him as she watched him walk away.


	3. Just Friends

Just friends

Nathan didn't look back once. He was mad and he didn't care. She didn't even bother to come after him. Some friend she was. She kept calling. He kept ignoring. By the time he was almost home she was on call 16 and he finally had to turn the damn thing off. Almost, that is until Peyton pulled up. He really didn't feel like dealing with that either.

"You wanna ride?" Peyton called out from her car. Nathan ignored her. "Nathan!" she yelled and he snapped his head back and scowled at her. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing." he muttered.

"You know, I'm not really good at advice but the whole venting thing I can take. I mean if you want to…" he stopped walking and she stopped the car. She motioned for him to get in and shrugged and got in the car. "So peachy dear, how are you?"

"Just can you take me home? I don't want to vent. I want to sit and simmer and take it out on somebody else." he replied his jawed clenched.

"Who do you want to take it out on? Well if you would tell me what the what is. I mean I don't know what's wrong with you. You should really try breathing…" she prodded further.

"Peyton! Just stop ok? You really want to know who's pissing me off right now?" he asked and she nodded. "Haley."

"Haley James, miss tutor girl, your best friend has got you so wound up that you want to kill someone?" she smirked.

"No, not just her. Ok, let me put it in a different light. Your sorry excuse for a boyfriend slash my jackass of a brother is at the movies right now with my best friend. Isn't that some crap?"

"Wow."

"Yeah especially since I was suppose to be there. I mean he still is your boyfriend right?" he wouldn't look at her; just stared out the window. 'Please let him still be your boyfriend.' he thought to himself.

"Not for long." she returned not realizing that she crushing his heart. He didn't want Haley with him; she deserved so much better than that.

"What makes you say that?" he asked his throat going dry.

"Done with all the drama." she returned simply. "You want to explain your relationship with Haley? You're kinda overprotective where she's concerned."

"Well, not like it really is your business but we're just friends. Been that way since we were like 8 or 9. Some kid tripped her up in the sand box and she fell and started crying. I went over and pushed the kid down. Helped her up. Told her I would protect her from then on. She's been glued to me ever since." he chuckled then sobered. "Until now."

"So no like romantic past at all with the two of you?" Peyton asked. It was what everyone was dying to know. Nathan paled. There had been…but that was just it. It was in the past.

"Not really. We just clicked better as friends. I mean if it wasn't for her absolute lack of talent for basketball she'd probably be trying out for the team with me." Peyton laughed. "It used to be just the two of us and now…all in one day it seems, it's not anymore."

"I think it's really cool that you two can be friends and not have any of the romantic drama that probably should be with it. But, hey, Brooke's all ready for you when you are."

"My house is up there on the left." Nathan pointed, not responding to the previous statement.

"All right here you are." she said pulling up to his house. "You're welcome but next time, try not to talk my ear off. Kidding. Ok not the one for jokes I see."

"I'm sorry Peyton. You've really been nothing but nice to me and I've been kinda acting like a…" he said looking down at his lap. He looked ashamed and Peyton was trying desperately not to laugh at him. She failed.

"A jackass." she laughed when he looked up. "It's okay Nathan really. I don't take it offensively. I'm used to it with Lucas."

"Yeah that's the thing. You're used to Lucas being one and not me. Now Haley is used to me be one and not Lucas. When did the damn universe flip upside down?"

"Ok see this is where the whole I'm no good advice part comes in. I can't tell you what to do or anything because I don't have any stake in this. Do I think he might try something to get to you? Maybe. I don't know. But Haley is a big girl and she can make her own mistakes. You can't protect her forever." Nathan just nodded and got out.

"Thanks, Peyton." he said before shutting the door.

Haley couldn't go after Nathan. She knew how stubborn he was. Her legs couldn't keep up even if she had tried. He was mad and she knew it. She had screwed up…royally. She didn't think she could've done any better. Lucas had tried to calm her but she wanted nothing to do with him. She was so stupid to go with him. Like she didn't know that Nathan would found out some how. Like he wouldn't be pissed. Score one, Haley James.

"Haley, he'll be ok." Lucas said for about the millionth time. They didn't go to the movie. Haley just walked over to the nearest bench and sat down. Lucas had simply followed. It kinda surprised her that he didn't leave. She didn't tell him to go through, another surprise on her part.

"You don't know him." she said quietly.

"Yeah, you're right I don't." he returned. "I'm sorry. I really wish he didn't have to find out about us like that."

"Find out about us? There is no us. We were going as friends and even that was a colossal mistake. Gah, I can't believe how stupid I was." she said with frustration in her voice running her fingers through her hair.

"Ok, that came out wrong. He's still not answering?" he asked looking on as she tried calling him again. She shook her head no and he saw the tears fall down her cheek. "Hey…don't cry." he said wiping a tear from her cheek. She looked at him and tried to smile.

"We've been best friends for 10 years. Can you believe that? I hurt him so bad just now…I saw it in his eyes. They have different shades of blue. I can always tell what he's feeling just by his eyes." she laughed. "That's stupid isn't it?"

"No, not really. It's kinda endearing. Don't look at me like that. I'm not completely dumb Haley. I need your help more in math than in English." he said nudging her. "What shade of his eyes did he have and what emotion did it show?"

"Huh? Oh that. It was kind of a mixture. They were more dull that normal and they were clouded over. Tells me he was angry and hurt. Not that hard to tell. I don't think you're dumb either. " she said smiling.

"Can I ask you something personal?"

"Uh, sure…but if it involves what type or color underwear I'm wearing you won't be able to reproduce." she said laughing.

"What's the deal with the two of you? I mean do you have some kind of past or what? Oh, bad subject?" he asked noticing her wince.

"No, it's just we kinda have to keep defending our relationship to everyone. We're friends. That's all. He's just always been there for me I guess. What do you want with me?" she said bluntly.

"What do you mean? I want you to be my tutor." he said confused.

"I mean would you really have wanted me to tutor you before? Would you have even asked if Nathan hadn't joined the team?"

"I don't know." he said quietly.

"Well than, that's all the information I need to know." she said getting up. He grabbed her hand trying to stop her.

"Haley, wait. Just I'm sorry ok. I don't know what I'm doing here."

"What about Peyton? You know, you're girlfriend." she said sitting down reluctantly.

"What about her? No, I mean I can't go to a movie with a girl without it being a cheating? Or it being nothing than friends? Besides, I think she's about fed up with me."

"Oh."

"Look, don't feel bad. It's not like it's your fault or anything. It's mine. I'm not exactly boyfriend of the year over here. You should go talk to him. He's probably home or something. I know it's bothering you and I don't want to keep you." he said smiling.

"Thanks Luke. Would you mind…"

"Yeah, come on. I'll take you."

Peyton was amused by here whole evening. Nathan was acting as if he had just caught his girlfriend cheating. If he wasn't so miserable about it then she might've actually gotten a kick out of it. The whole Lucas and Haley thing, she was indifferent to. Didn't really matter one way or another to her. She heard someone walk up the stairs. Damn it if it isn't the devil himself.

"So how was you're date?" she asked not even looking up at her drawing.

"What do you mean?" he smirked.

"You know you're little movie with tutor girl." she mirrored the same smirk.

"We didn't go. Just sat on a bench and talked. Listen to her babble about hot shot. How is eyes have different shades of blue…they're best friends…blah blah. It was really quite boring. Then I took her to see him so they could make up or whatever. " he said looking around at her drawings on her wall bored.

"You're such an ass and you're too stupid to see it. What are you doing with her really? Because if you're trying to mess with Nathan's mind, who is your brother by the way, then I'll let you know that it's a success." she spat at him.

"Oh really?" he said is interest suddenly perking. "How do you know that?"

"Because I saw him walking and took him home. He was pretty upset." she said returning to her drawing.

"Well I guess both of us have been busy tonight." he said laying down on the bed beside her.

"You should go Lucas. I been doing some thinking since that night at the river court and I think it really would be best if we weren't together. I'm sick of all this drama."

"You sure you really want to do this?" he asked propping up on his elbow.

"Yeah, I'm sure Luke. Here, take you're leash too." she said removing the necklace he had given her for her birthday which he forgot until 2 weeks after the fact. He jerked it out of hand.

"You'll regret this Peyton." he said walking out the door.

"I'm pretty sure I won't. Thank God." she said to herself and once again started to draw.

Nathan was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He knew he overreacted but it just really bugged him. He wanted to go talk to her but he held back. He felt betrayed in the worse way. Screw it. He got up to go talk to her. Anything. He opened the door to see Haley standing there in tears.

"I'm so sorry Nathan." she said barely above a whisper.

"No, no Hales. It's me, I'm sorry." he said pulling her into a hug, smelling her hair. "I had no right to blow up at you like that. It's your life."

"I should've told you Nathan. It didn't mean anything I swear. I mean I know what I told you this morning and all but it wasn't about that. I…it just felt nice be out with someone other than you. Not that you're bad or anything…it was just, you know, different."

"Yeah, I know. I just don't trust him, that's all." he said tucking her hair behind her ear. "We ok?"

"Of course we are." she returned hugging him. "Miss me?"

"Yeah, a lot." he said smiling.


	4. Disheveled

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for all the great reviews that really mean a lot to me. So...if you want more of the story you gotta review. I already have all the chapters written out so it just depends on you if you want me to update or not. It takes like two seconds to review so don't be stingy! Alright so enjoy and all that good stuff.

Disheveled

Nathan made sure he locked his door today. It was Saturday and he had to practice at 10. He didn't want an freakishly perky Haley showing up at 6 am again. Once this week was too much to take. Yeah that would stop her. Or not. He heard banging on his door. He pulled the pillow over his head and sank underneath the covers. "Go away!" he wined. The incessant knocking stopped and he sighed only for that to be interrupted seconds later when Haley barged into his room through the house.

"NATHAN SCOTT!" she yelled at him. He peeked his head barely above the covers and looked at her. He saw her scowl and ducked back underneath the covers. "Oh, don't you dare…I saw you."

"Haley, it's like 6:30 and a Saturday. Give me a break." he said from underneath the covers. Hearing no response, "Aww…Hales…please."

"Why didn't you answer the door?" she asked quietly.

"Because it's 6:30 on a Saturday." he repeated groaning.

"Oh, well I've got a surprise for you." she said brightly. He remained unmoved so she made her way to the bed and laid down beside him. He was still hiding so she just watched and waited for him to come out. After a few seconds he poked his head out of the top of the sheet.

"What is it?"

"Apologize." she wined

"You know I'm sorry." he said reaching over and messing up her hair.

"You're only sorry because I have something for you. But, I forgive you anyway." she said smiling and sticking her tongue out at him.

"What is it?" he repeated.

"Tell me how much you love me…"

"That's it!" he said jumping up and tickling her.

"Nathan…stop…please…oh!…please…..stop…now…ahh…" she managed to get out in between laughs.

"Spill it now." he said not letting her up. She paused and he continued.

"Ok…please…oh God…ok…ok…oww…I'm going to be at practice with you today." she managed to spit out. Nathan stopped suddenly and was within inches of her face. He looked confused and Haley grasped to catch her breath. "…as a cheerleader…" He remained still.

"You? A cheerleader?" he asked trying to catch his own breath. Haley realized that if someone, perhaps Deb, had walked in at that moment it would like they had just got done making out. They were panting and he was on top of her, still close to her face. Eww…creepy. Nathan must've realized it at the same time because they both scrambled to get situated. "So…seriously?"

"Yeah, it's really a long story." she said biting her lower lip. Famous Haley nervous tick.

"Well, I now have…" looking at his clock, "three hours and fifteen minutes until I…excuse me, we, have to be at practice. Enlighten me." he said laying on his back and watching her intently.

"Ok well yesterday morning…"

Flashback

Haley was running late. It was horrible. After the late night heart to heart with Nathan she hadn't gotten much sleep. Now she was feeling it. She didn't think she could hold her eyes open. She contributed it to the all the crying she did the night before. She walked in the tutoring center and saw Lucas sitting in the chair, feet propped up on the desk, sleeping. Knocked out more like it. Aww…sleep. She went over and smacked him in the back of the head. He jerked up and scowled at her.

"Wake up sleeping beauty." she muttered sitting down and slinging her bag on the table.

"You look like hell." he replied. Now it was her turn to scowl.

"Bite me. Scratch that. If you can't sleep, neither can I. Quite the charmer are we?" she returned sarcastically.

"You're late."

"Now we're even." she shot back. "Sorry, I had a long night." she mumbled trying to smile at him.

"Nathan keep you up? Sorry, yeah me too. Peyton broke up with me." he said not looking up from his notebook.

"Oh. So I guess you were right. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine. Nothing I can do about it. She's pretty much set on it." he replied nonchalantly.

"Well you could've tried why you were still together." she said mumbling to herself.

"Hey, I heard that. You don't know anything about Peyton and I." he shot back.

"Me and Peyton." she corrected.

"Whatever. Lets get on with it." he grumbled.

"Lucas! Where's Peyton?" Brooke said bouncing in. Haley had saw her barreling down the hall and nearly passed the tutoring center but back tracked when she saw Lucas.

"I dunno Brooke." Lucas replied coldly.

"Well she's your girlfriend. You should know." she replied impatiently.

"Not anymore. She broke up with me. What's got your panties in a bunch?"

"Sweet Luke, really. Good for her anyway. I need a cheerleader." seeing the confused looks on their faces, "Theresa kinda broke her foot. Now I need to find a girl to replace her by tomorrow night." noticing Haley, "Tutor girl…" she said smiling. Haley instantly caught her drift.

"Oh, no Brooke. Not me. I am a born klutz. Don't even think about it." Haley said waving her hand and returning to the book.

"Haley please! I mean it's just for this game. I'll replace you after it if you want. It's the first game….oh Haley please, please, please." Brooke begged.

"She'll do it." Lucas answered for her. Haley looked on shocked.

"Ok…well good. Practice today at 3 Haley. See you there. Oh what size are you? You look around a 4. Ok see you later. Thanks Luke, thanks Haley. Alright bye!" she said bouncing at the door.

"I can't believe you just did that! Where do you think you come off?" Haley screamed.

"Just consider it part of our deal. You cheer and I'll make sure Nathan gets the ball sometime this night. Alright?" he asked her and she just nodded.

End Flashback

Haley made sure she left the part out about Lucas volunteering her and his reason behind it. She didn't need a fight with Nathan so soon. They never even fought at all unless it was about what movie to watch or who got the last piece of pizza. Haley wasn't even sure why Lucas wanted her to cheer. She just chucked it up to the fact that Brooke was suppose to be his friend and he was helping her out. That was her excuse.

"You a cheerleader. The universe really has flipped upside down." he said closing his eyes. "I wanna rest a little bit ok?"

"Yeah ok." she said laying down beside him. They were both on their backs and although their bodies weren't touching, their heads were. They both drifted asleep.

Peyton was lying down on her bed wide awake. For some reason she was losing sleep over breaking up with Lucas and she didn't like that fact. She should be happy now and free and all she felt was bad. She had to admit, even with the exterior of a jerk he was a good person underneath. And she missed him.

"Hey." Lucas said softly from the doorway.

"Hey." she replied not looking at him.

"Can I come in?" she nodded and he walked over to the bed. He took a seat beside her and laid down. "So were you really serious the other night?"

"Yeah, I was. Look, I know you're a good guy deep down but you just don't know how to show it. I can't be with you anymore Luke. I love you and I always will but that's just not enough for me." she said quietly.

"So this is really it?" he asked her.

"I guess so. Look, " she said turning on her side and propping her head on hand. "it's not like it should matter or anything but what are you doing with Haley?"

"Ok, so at first I wanted to mess with her to get to him. It's not like that though anymore. She's nice and although I think I could really get to her I don't think I will." he replied sincerely. Peyton believed him that time. She turned back onto her back.

"You want to prove you can be a good guy Luke? Don't hurt her. She means a lot to Nathan. Stick it to him some other way. "

"I plan to. She's only cheerleading because I asked her to."

"Yeah, Brooke told me you volunteered her. Why do you want her to?" she asked confused.

"I want to see more of her." he said simply.

"You like her." she said more at a statement than a question.

"I don't know if I like her yet; but the idea of her is appealing. She annoys me a lot though, always having some smart comment on the tip of her tongue. But she's a good person and I kinda like that about her."

"How do you think she feels?" Peyton asked.

"I dunno. I don't know if it's attraction or sympathy that makes her tutor me. Either way it doesn't make Nathan happy. So either she likes me or she just wants to help."

"Or both." Peyton chimed in.

"Or both. Come on, friend. Eww, that sound weird. You know I'll always love you too Peyton right?" she nodded. "Good. I just can't stand to be in love with you." he laughed and she playfully hit him in the stomach.

"Let's go friend. Eww…yeah you're right, that does sound weird." she said getting up.

"Did Peyton Sawyer actually admit that Lucas Scott was right?" he said following her.

"Did Lucas Scott actually admit to liking Haley James?" she said turning around and smirking at him.

"Oww…got me there. Let's go curly." he said laughing and throwing his arm around her shoulder.

Haley woke up feeling warm and smiled. She looked down to see Nathan's strong arms around her, holding her close and she freaked. Looking at the clock she went into full panic mode. It was not 10:20. They were late. She tried getting up but Nathan pulled her into his wrap even more. She groaned and tried to wiggle free. Finally she reached up and smacked him on his head the best she could with short arm.

"Oww…Hales, what was that for." he groaned letting her go, giving her the opportunity to get up.

"Nathan get up. We fell asleep. We're late." she said scrambling around throwing clothes at him.

"Huh? Come on Hales…we don't have to go…" he moaned pulling the covers over his head. She in returned jerked them back.

"Nathan is it 10:20. You're late for practice and I'm late too. Let's go. Move it!" she yelled.

Nathan looked at the clock and jumped up. Perfect. Now coach will kill him. This morning gets better and better. At least he had Haley in his arm….what? Why was he thinking that? Ok, focus Nate. Clothes. Shorts then shirt. Ok shoes. Wait, socks first. Now shoes. "I'm ready. Lets go." he said grabbing Haley hand and running out the door.

15 minutes later they were standing in front of the gym grasping for breath. They looked a mess. They didn't even brush their hair. It was awful.

"Good thing we run together on a regular basis." Nathan said still struggling to catch their breaths.

"Yeah, lets go superstar." she replied and they walked into the gym. It seemed like the world stopped. Well the gym at least. Everyone turned and stared at the sight of the two.

Nathan Scott and Haley James…the most talked about non-couple as of recent date. Nobody really knew their story. What they saw today was only adding on the rumor that they were in fact, together. Not only were their clothes a mess and their hair pointing in different directions but they were half and hour late. They showed up late…together. The things people would think from this episode.

Brooke busted out laughing. Lucas look on in a fit of rage. He assumed the worse. He really didn't know why it bothered him. Peyton looked on amused but didn't think anything about it. Nathan and Haley just stood there sheepishly and Haley tried to straighten out her hair.

"Well if you two love birds are done letting the whole gym gawk at you, I'd like to continue with practice." Whitey said sweetly to them at first and then scowled at Nathan. "Scott! Over here now! Everyone, suicides now! You can thank the younger Scott brother later." he said smiling. Nathan groaned and joined in.

Haley walked over to the squad and although they hadn't said anything yet, she felt the red creep into her cheeks. Here it goes.

"Tutor girl…" Brooke said smiling.

"Save it Brooke. Say one word about something that didn't happen I swear to you, I will walk right out of this gym and you will be screwed." she sneered.

"I wasn't going to say anything about the thing that didn't happen." she said innocently and winking at her.

"Lets just get this over with." Haley said and they started practicing. She didn't even notice that while she was doing a bunch of claps and cheers she had two Scott brothers eyes on her.

**Spoliers**

**Brooke and Lucas form an alliance**

**Haley gets an unexpected invite**

**Nathan and Haley discuss Lucas**

**Peyton runs into someone**


	5. It's All Just Kinda Gray

It's All Just Kinda Gray

Haley sat down on the bleachers of the gym studying her textbook. She had agreed during their break that she would wait for Nathan and this is what she was doing now. Like the 25 pairs of beady little eyes staring at her the whole time during practice wasn't enough. Yeah, lets stay longer. She was tired even though she had slept really good in Nathan's arms earlier. It had been a long time since she had been in them. Just that one time. Focus Haley. Math is good. Math is fun. Focus on math. Not either of the Scott brothers. She had looked up and noticed both of them staring at her. Creepy.

"Hey." Peyton said sitting down next to Haley.

"What's up?" Haley said glancing up at Peyton before returning to her textbook.

"So umm, can I ask you something?" Haley stopped reading and focused in on Peyton.

"Nothing happened with me and Nathan this morning. We feel asleep. That's all. You can go tell all your little minions now." she said waving her off.

"Oh. Good to know I guess but that wasn't what I was gonna ask." she said smiling.

"Well what was it?" Haley asked looking up.

"So I know you are like totally helping us out tonight with the game and all and we really do appreciate it. "Peyton started and Haley arched one of her eyebrows up giving her a confused look. "Brooke is throwing this whole kick off the season kick ass party at her house tonight and I was thinking that you could come. Maybe even bring Nathan."

"Uh…"

"Look, you don't have to answer right now. Just think about it, talk to Nathan and if you're in then I'll talk to you at the game. If not, it's cool either way. But I'll see you later Haley." she said patting Haley on her leg and getting up. Haley watched her and noticed that all the basketball players had left the gym. She put her stuff away and went to stand outside the locker room to wait for Nathan. She wasn't facing the door of the locker room though and she didn't hear when someone came up behind her.

"So you waiting for me?" he whispered into her ear. She felt his hot breath and it nearly made her shiver. She turned around slowly to face a smirking Lucas.

"Actually I was waiting for Nathan." she said returning the smirk.

"So did the two of you have a good time? Because by the looks of it, you did." he said smiling and she in turn playfully hit his stomach.

"Yeah, I had a really good time sleeping on his twin bed with his massive body taking up the majority of it. " she said laughing.

"Well you're tiny, you don't need that much room." he said joining in the laughter.

"What's so funny?" Nathan grumbled coming out of the locker room.

"Nothing." Haley said quickly turning off the laughter. "See ya later Luke." she said and joined in Nathan's stride out of the gym. "Hey, don't look so glum." she said poking him in the rib.

"I'm exhausted. I'm gonna be crap for the game tonight. Not only that but the elite of Tree Hill think we slept together." he complained reaching for his keys. "Damn it! We didn't even drive."

"Since when does it matter what the 'elite of Tree Hill' think?" she said disgusted and walking off.

"Haley wait. I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry. I'm just cranky." he said latching onto her hand.

"Well the Tree Hill elite have invited me plus you to a party at the queen bee's house tonight. You game?"

"From tutor girl to cheerleader to miss party in only a matter of days. You're suppose to have already been through all those fazes by now. " he said smirking at her which earned him a smack upside his head by Haley's free hand. They suddenly realized that they were still holding hands. That was quickly solved as they moved apart from one another.

"And you from bookworm to basketball star and now a class A jackass." she said smiling. "Oh come on, I'm kidding. You're at the most a class B. HA! There's that smile. I knew you could do it." he started laughing and in one swoop picked her up and put her over his shoulder. "Nathan, put me down." he ignored her and started spinning her around. "Oh…Nathan…stop…please….oh….please Nathan."

"Say it Haley." he said stopping for a brief moment.

"No." and he continued. "Ok…Ok…stop…I'll say it." he stopped and waited. "You're not a jackass." he put her down and she gained her footing. "Except when it comes to your brother and me." she said laughing and running away.

"Oh you're really gonna get it now." he said chasing after her.

Peyton figured she was doing the best thing by everyone. Brooke would get Nathan and Lucas would get Haley. How did she managed to go from Lucas' girlfriend to being his matchmaker? She was perfectly content being by herself for the time being. She was in the record store getting some music for the party tonight when she bumped into someone.

"Oh sorry." she said looking up to him. He just smiled and nodded.

"It's ok, really. Nothing broken." he responded. Funny. Peyton had never even looked twice at him before and he was on the basketball team. She had to admit that he was gorgeous. And not in the in your face GQ sort of way but the boy next door way. And it was really appealing to her right now. Jake Jaglieski. He was always kinda quiet, shying away from the rest of them.

"Yeah I just kinda get in this zone when I'm looking through records and I just kinda run over everyone in my path." she said smiling.

"Well that's awfully nice of you. To consider everyone's feeling and position and everything."

"Oh ha ha. Real funny. My mission is to find music that everyone will like. I don't even know why Brooke sent me. The music I like no one around here does. Hey, that reminds me, are you coming tonight?"

"To Brooke's? I dunno. I don't really run with that crowd. I just play ball and live my life." he returned digging through some CDS.

"Hmm…so mysterious. How about this…you help me pick out music that normal people listen to and if you come tonight then I promise not to feed you to the wolves and you'll have a good time." she said smiling up at him.

"Peyton Sawyer showing me a good time? How could I possibly resist?" he said and she looked up in mock shock and hit him on the chest with a record. "Yeah, alright. I go if you want me to."

"Well I want you to."

"And I'm free to bail anytime I feel like?" he asked.

"Of course but you won't want to. I promise."

Lucas was at home now, just shooting in this driveway. He hoped that his father wouldn't show up even though he knew it was a false hope. It was the first game of the season. There was no way his father wouldn't show up and haste him about it. Not only that but his other child was playing as well and that meant he would get twice the talk to out shine everyone around him.

"Hey gorgeous." Brooke said walking up to Lucas and standing underneath the goal.

"Flattery will get you no where with me Brooke. What do you need slash want?" Lucas said shooting the ball into the goal.

"What makes you think I need or want anything?" she replied smiling.

"Because, you never come up to me all by your lonesome self just because. You obviously need me to do something for you so spill."

"Ok so you know my party tonight right?"

"Yeah what about it?"

"So I was thinking about all of us. You know, you and Peyton and me and then there's tutor girl and you're little brother. So this is what I was thinking. If you keep tutor girl occupied and I keep little bro busy then I think we could both end up very happy the end of the night. "she said her smile still intact.

"Oh really? And what about Peyton? You forgot about her." he said stopping and looking at her.

"Since when do you care about Peyton? Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't go all jealous crazed ex-boyfriend on me. Besides I think she's perfectly fine being by her little broody self. And if not, then I'll find some random hottie for her to hook up with."

"What makes you think that I want Haley?"

"Are we playing 20 question here? It's so obvious. Like you weren't totally staring her down at practice this morning. Like you totally don't like getting up at 6 in the morning to go spend an hour of you time with her. I mean yeah you could say that your sticking it to Nathan but that's not the case. So put up that front for someone else because I don't buy it." she retorted placing her hands on her hips and giving in a smirk.

"Either that or Peyton told you."

"You told Peyton? Interesting. You going to her to tell her who you're all crushed out on. Sweet. Touching. Really. Gag me. So are you in or what? I don't have all day. If you're not in I need to think of a plan B."

"We'll go with Plan A."

Nathan and Haley had pretty much picked and played with each other until they returned to Nathan's house and settled in. Haley on the bed studying and Nathan on the computer doing something Haley wasn't quite be sure of. She didn't let it bother her though. She had test on Monday if this party was anything like everyone made it out to be, she'd be too tired tomorrow to do it. Besides that, she had to work. Joy.

Nathan glanced at Haley immersed in her studying. He was studious but never the one to study on a Saturday afternoon when he still had all day Sunday. He on the other hand would much rather look at the web cam in Peyton's closet. He heard people talk about it and now he was actually checking it out. He would never hear the end of it if he Haley knew. He watched for a few moments for clicking off and focusing his attention to Haley.

"What were you and Luke talking about?" he asked turning around his chair and she didn't respond. He waved his hands in front of her face in which she instantly jerked her head up. "Earth to Haley. What were you and Lucas talking about?" he repeated.

"Huh? Oh nothing. He was just jabbing me about showing up with you in that state. I swear to you, we're never gonna live that down. What? You know we won't. Just something else that comes along with you joining the basketball team." she said returning back to her book.

"What do you mean? Like this is my fault?" he asked her staring at her.

"I mean…ok how many people noticed you or me before you joined the team? I could probably count on one hand. Then you join and boom. We're supposedly together when we're not. No one even cared about whether we were friends, enemies, a couple or anything until now. And I don't even know how I got dragged into this mess."

"You're just my friend." he replied.

"Uh, yeah I know that. Don't try to defend it to me. I don't think anything short of one or both of us making out with someone else would make any difference. I mean why do they care anyway? Ok so you might be a wanted now since you're a hot shot but I'm still me. Haley James. Tutor girl."

"Please don't make out with Lucas."

"Where did that come from? Yeah, because I'm just the type to make out with a random guy who by the way is your long lost brother who by the way you hate…"

"Who by the way, you like. Who you tutor. You ramble too much Hales." he said coming over and laying down beside her on the bed. She was on her stomach and he was lying on his back. "So about this morning…"

"What about this morning? That was totally random and off subject." she said looking him. He was just staring at the ceiling.

"It's just…I mean…I'm sorry if you were uncomfortable. I mean not like physically but you know. I didn't plan on holding you. I'm just sorry if it felt weird." he said sighing.

"It wasn't weird." she said quietly. "I mean, Nathan, you could sleep through a heard of raging bulls and not know what was going on. So I just chalk it up to you dreaming about Peyton and holding onto a slightly shorter, more rounder, and more brunette girl that was lying next to you." she said laughing.

"I'm nervous." he said changing the subject but she knew what he meant. He was afraid of the game. He never played at a team or competition level before it and she knew how much it unnerved him.

"I know." she returned. "Look, I can't really relate to this. I don't really understand it and I won't pretend to. I'm just here to support you no matter what you do and be there for you when you screw up. And if you do, it's ok. Don't go do it on purpose or anything but you know. It doesn't matter what the outcome of anything is Nathan. It's if you tried your hardest and did your absolute best." she said giving him a small smile.

"And if my best isn't good enough?" he asked.

"Then you work harder. You don't give up on anything you put your mind to. You remember soccer in 7th grade? You sucked at it, bad. But you wouldn't give up on it. Well not until you broke your foot. Then you just never went back. But basketball is your passion. It's your dream. You would never give up on it."

"Yeah yeah, enough of the pep talk. I need to ask you something." he said looking up and she was giving her 'yeah, what do you want?' look. "So how much do you really like him?"

"Oh my God Nathan. I'm not dating him or even planning to. It's not like that would ever even happen." she replied incredulously.

"You didn't answer my question Hales." he said more sincerely now. Like he was really interested in a guy and not his jackass of a brother.

"I dunno. I guess a lot. Kinda. I don't know. Before it was kinda like good looking, bad boy type attraction. Yeah even I have those attractions. But even in the few times we talked I think he's really opened up to me. So I dunno. It's all just kinda gray right now."

"Look, I just want you happy Haley. And…if that means seeing you go out with Lucas than I guess I can understand that. You deserve to have someone in your life. So I guess what I'm saying is that if you want to be with Lucas you have my blessing." he said to her. It was the right thing to do even if he hated it with ever fiber in him.


	6. Madness

A/N: Okay guys, I broke down and got Microsoft word so I won't have to reformat anything to post my stories now. Meaning, the more reviews, the fast the updates. And for this story I already have everything written. So…I hope you enjoy the update and drop the love. 

Madness

Haley was standing outside the doors that lead to the gym, wringing her hands. She was nervous as hell and she didn't mind one bit that it showed. She could only imagine the grief that Nathan was dealing with right now and that worried her. It was only minutes before the game was suppose to start and they had already done their workout.

"Tutor Girl." Brooke said smiling, coming up behind Haley.

"Hey Brooke." Haley returned trying to plaster the biggest, fakest smile she could muster.

"Don't be so nervous. You're in the back, you'll be closest to the opposing side and that way you won't embarrass yourself."

"Thanks a lot. You really know how to cheer me up." Haley sarcastically grumbled.

"Oh don't worry, that was Brooke being tame." Peyton said coming up and putting an arm around Brooke's shoulder.

"Oh whatever P. Sawyer like I wasn't the best cheerer-upper you had when Mr. Jackass Lucas was just that…a jackass." Brooke smirked. "But anyway, I'm going to go talk to the Mouth-boy and make sure that the music is all set to go. Be ready in 5." she continued before turning around and walking the opposite direction.

"I don't know if I'll ever be used to her." Haley said trying to make herself feel light and not engage in every single nervous tick known to man.

"I've been friends with her since I was 7 and I've never gotten used to her." Peyton laughed giving Haley smile.

"She's just so intense; I don't want to mess up."

"You mean you don't want to piss her off right? Kidding, Haley, kidding. She'll adjust; you're saving her big time. She wants Nathan you know." Peyton said suddenly not knowing why she had.

"Don't you too?" Haley said letting her body shrink against the wall to the floor. Peyton cleared her throat and sat down next to her. "Sorry, that wasn't very appropriate."

"Uh, I don't really know him that well. He's not one to really open up is he? I mean that one time I took him home…"

"You took him home? When?" Haley interrupted confused and kinda hurt that Nathan didn't tell her.

"Uh, the night you went to the movies with Luke. It was a freak accident, of course. I kinda pried though, asking about the two of you and your relationship. I'm sorry if that was rude or out of line."

"If it wasn't to him then it doesn't matter to me. " Haley said simply. "So Lucas is or was a pretty bad guy?" she asked hesitantly.

"You like him don't you?" Peyton asked looking directly at Haley but she wouldn't meet her gaze.

"No. Yes. No, I dunno. I just…I worry. It's his brother and his enemy and I don't know if I can do that to him." Haley spit out not really knowing why her and Peyton had suddenly started bonding. This was getting stranger by the minute.

"Nathan." Peyton clarified. "You have to live your own life Haley. I mean you don't see him asking permission to date me…which he hasn't by the way. Just be careful with Lucas. I think he really could be a good guy but I never saw that part. Maybe you would do him some good."

"Is it just me or is it really weird that we're confiding in each other?" Haley said laughing.

"And you a cheerleader. It's wacky." Peyton returned joining in on the laughter.

"We'll I'm so glad the two of you are bonding but could we do that a little bit more on the gym floor. Not in the perverse, eww, girl way but in the lets get out there and dance, cheerleading way." Brooke said stomping up and putting her hands out for both Haley and Peyton to take and get them off the floor. "Now let's go Blondie and Tutor girl."

"Welcome to the madness." Peyton whispered to Haley smiling as they followed Brooke.

Nathan was surprisingly calm sitting in the locker room waiting to go out. He contributed most of his eerie non nervousness to Haley. She was right, if he messed up, it would be while he was playing his best game. It surprised him that he was more nervous about Haley and Lucas than anything else. For so long it had been just the two of them and now they were thrust into this whole new world. He never meant for Haley to be caught up in it but there it was. He put her in direct line of whatever Lucas was pulling.

"You nervous man?" Jake asked patting him on the shoulder and sitting down.

"Nah, not really. Just play my best, that's all I can do. If I still suck then I guess my best just sucks then." Nathan said laughing.

"After hearing about the schooling you put on Luke at the river court, I doubt your best sucks." Jake said laughing with him.

"That was different. I was pissed because he threw me in mud in the middle of nowhere. High Fliers is something I've wanted for a long time and besides, the river court it my territory. I had home court advantage. All that, out there, it's foreign to me. I don't know that."

"So think of something that pisses you off and that you've wanted a long time." Jake replied and Nathan instantly thought of Haley and Luke. Yeah that pissed him off. But what was something he wanted? Her. No, not that. He had her already. He shook his thoughts off. Jake continued. "Besides, you'll get used to the gym and all. It may not be as comfortable and stress free as the river court but if you love the game, anywhere you play will become home."

"Can I ask you something?" Nathan asked and Jake nodded. "What's the story on Lucas? He's been talking to Haley and I don't want him to hurt her. I want to know his motives are pure."

"Ah, so you do have a little sweet spot for her." Jake said smiling.

"She's my best friend; I don't want to see her hurt."

"Well alright I mean I can't really help you though. I don't really run in those circles. Rather not. Haley's a big girl though, she can fend for herself."

"Yeah I know but I've heard his reputation and I know first hand what a complete jackass he can be and I swear if he hurts her…"

"Whoa, slow down there. No wonder everyone thinks there's something there. They two of you are as close as, well you could fit just about any analogy you can think of in that spot. The two of you really never dated? It's uncanny how much you two are like a couple."

"Yeah a couple of best friends. That's it. Nothing more. I'm so tired of having this conversation and if you even ask what happened this morning we fell asleep."

"Hey, I'm not one to judge and I'm sorry I brought it up. It's cool you two are friends. And yeah I get it, just friends."

"Yeah we've already established that." Nathan grumbled. He meant him and Haley; they had decided last summer that being friends meant more than anything they had experienced.

"Captain Jackass alert." Jake whispered has he heart Lucas from the other side of the locker room. Nathan groaned.

"Let's go, we've got to go out in a few minutes." Lucas yelled coming into view. Noticing Jake and Nathan, "Sweet, Jake. Taking on the new kid and being oh so nice. Let's go!"

"Welcome to the madness." Jake said smiling as he and Nathan followed Lucas out of the locker room.

It was madness. Really. Everyone in the crowd was screaming and yelling and Haley could just feel her nerves having a party. It didn't matter that she was in the back. She was a natural klutz and she knew she would embarrass herself. She told herself she was doing it for Nathan, just so he could get the playing time. But deep down, she knew it was more for her. She never got out, never did anything like this. It was new and exciting.

"Let's go Tutor Girl. We've got moves to make and asses to shake. Move it P. Sawyer." Brooke yelled as they were about to enter the gym. "Now we walk in and wait for the guys and then once they're introduced then we move it. Got it? Good. Let's go."

Haley sighed and took in a deep breath. She just hoped this wasn't the point where she died at an early age due to the complete lack of flexibility she had. "Tell my mother I loved her if I don't make it through this." she joked leaning over to Peyton and she just laughed.

"Don't you mean Nathan?" Peyton retorted an eyebrow quirked as Haley just shook her head.

Nathan saw all the madness too and for the life of him he couldn't get into it. For some reason he knew this would change everything in his world. In more ways than one, it already had. He had to deal with his brother and his father and all the messed up crap that came with it. Before he and his mom ignored it and lived on. Now he had to face Lucas everyday and tonight, he would face Dan.

Game time.

"Alright, as Captain I'm suppose to give you some great big speech before the game but I'm not." Lucas said at the head of everyone. "That's Whitey's job to sugarcoat this for you. I'm not your babysitter so just get out there and play. Scratch that. Just get me the ball. I'll handle the rest. And you…" he said referring to Nathan, "If you get the ball you better make the shot count. Come on, move it." he said as they heard the Raven's being announced and they headed into the gym.

Nathan walked in next to Lucas and to everyone there that was quite the sight. The cheerleaders entered at the same time, Brooke in the middle and Peyton and Haley to either side of her. Nathan couldn't believe what he was looking at. He could feel the sweat starting to pour. Now this, Haley in a cheerleading outfit, this made him nervous.

Lucas was considering the same thing as he glanced up and down from head to toe of Haley. 'Damn. So much for my game tonight.' He looked over at Nathan who was giving Haley the same look and decided that it would be a good chance to stick it to him. Just one last time. "So she's looking kinda fine tonight in that outfit huh?" he smirked.

"Huh? What? Who?" Nathan stammered out losing his gaze on Haley and focusing on Lucas.

"Haley. As a cheerleader. Damn. No wonder you kept her so hidden from the rest of us." Lucas replied licking his lips. Nathan was about to open his mouth when Whitey came to the center of the gym and announced the girls. The guys moved over to their side of the gym and stood in a line facing them.

Haley had noticed both Scott boys looking at her in a way she didn't like. She could've chalked it up to them noticing every other tall and gorgeous cheerleader but she felt their eyes on her. Yeah this was getting stranger by the minute. They shuffled to get in formation and this time Haley was thankful that she was in the back away from their gaze. She still felt it though.

After they finished their routine, thankfully without any broken bones and only a few minor mistakes they went to the far end of the gym and waited for the game to begin.

"Oh my God! Did you see the total way Lucas was staring at you P. Sawyer and the absolute full lock on look Boy Toy gave me?" Brooke said sitting down next to Peyton while Haley settled in next to Peyton as well.

"Uh, yeah Brooke." Peyton replied. In all actually she had noticed them boring holes into Haley for the split second she wasn't lusting after Jake. She blushed just thinking about it. "Wait, Lucas wasn't staring at me and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah I know. He was staring at Tutor Girl in her skimpy cheerleading outfit."

"Uh, that's because you gave me a size too small!" Haley piped up on the other side of Peyton.

"Hey don't look at me like that, at least someone, A.K.A Lucas, approved of it."

"Well that's because he wasn't the one that couldn't breathe!" Haley retorted.

"Oh trust me, he couldn't breathe. Look at you, he's totally into you. What's that stupid overused phase? Oh yeah, 'you took my breath away.' Totally lame but that's what you did." Brooke pointed out.

"Ladies, please relax." Peyton said interrupting the banter between the two. "We have to start cheering in the skimpy little outfits that do not let us breathe in a few minutes and I want to relax. Besides Brooke, from what I could tell BOTH Scott boys were leering at Haley." she said a smile crossing on her lips.

"No way! Lucas definitely but not Boy Toy. He was into me. Sorry Tutor Girl." Brooke exclaimed. Haley hadn't listened because she was too focused on Nathan. He was visibly upset and she didn't know if it was nervousness or something else. Now Peyton was pulling her up and they moved to get into position to cheer.

Nathan got in position and sucked in his breath. He was going to be his best and that's all there was to it.

It was now two minutes until half-time and true to his word Lucas had given Nathan the ball plenty of times and Nathan had done nothing but followed through on his promise to be at his best. Haley was a bit surprised Lucas had done his part of the deal but it pleased her none the less. Now Nathan had just been called out on a fowl and Lucas was seething. They all took their positions to let the guy from the opposing team take his shots.

"Don't start disappointing everyone now." Lucas spat at Nathan. "Oh wait, you already are one."

"Whatever man, it was an accident. Kinda like if I tripped you up and let you fall on your face. I've been proving what a disappointment I'm not all night. I've only missed one or two shots."

"Yeah and you wouldn't have had those shots if it wasn't for Haley."

"What do you mean?" Nathan said still trying to catch his breathe.

"Why do you think she's cheerleading? She's doing it as a favor to me. ME. In turn, I give you the ball some tonight." Lucas said smirking.

"What? Why would you do that?" Nathan stammered out.

"I saw you looking at her earlier. She's looking pretty hot in that outfit and you know it. I'm just glad I get to see it. Maybe I'll see even less later on."

Nathan couldn't handle it anymore. It was all he could do from keeping from punching him earlier but now he had really asked for it. He swung and hit dead on. Man, did that feel good. Lucas stumbled a bit back and then lunged at Nathan pushing them into the cheerleaders. They happened to land on Haley and she yelled out in pain.

Nathan shoved Lucas off of him as Jake pulled him up. He instantly reached over to Haley who was pulled away by Peyton, now a few feet away holding her wrist. He went over and knelt in front of her.

"Oh, God Hales, I'm so sorry." he said concern overwhelming him.

"Don't even apologize Nathan. This is all your fault! I can't believe you did this!" she spat back leaving Nathan stunned and confused.


	7. No Stopping This

**A/N: Don't hate me at the end. :) Enjoy and leave me a review! I demand it. J/K. Okay, not really though. **

No Stopping This

Nathan was wondering around Brooke's house trying to squeeze through all the bodies surrounding him. He was holding a mix drink in his hand but had barely touched it. He had a bad enough night without adding alcohol to the mix. Thinking about his bad night he was starting to think that maybe drinking would help. Then he saw her. Haley. That sealed the deal. He was surprised she had even agreed to come after what happened at the game. He took a big gulp of his drink and watched her.

Flashback

_"Don't even apologize Nathan. This is all your fault! I can't believe you did this!" Haley spat at Nathan once Nathan made his way over to her._

_"What! How is this my fault? After everything Hales you're gonna take his side? Screw that Haley. I won't do this with you." Nathan yelled and walked away._

_"Nathan! Wait. Please." Haley called after him and Nathan stopped. He turned around slowly and looked at her. She was still on the floor holding her wrist and now the tears had spilled over onto her cheeks. Nathan instantly softened. He walked over to her and knelt down in front of her wiping off her cheeks. "I'm sorry."_

_"I didn't mean it Hales. How is it? Are you ok? He just…he got to me and I shouldn't had let it happen. I'm so sorry." Nathan replied giving her a small smile. He didn't know why he didn't just tell her what Lucas had said to provoke him. He looked up to see the entire gym, including Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, and Jake. Yeah like this wouldn't add on to the rumors. "Come on, lets get you to the team doctor so he can look at that wrist. It doesn't look bad though." he said helping her onto her feet._

_"Thanks." she said smiling back at him. "For everything."_

_"Well that's quite a sweet and touching sentiment but can we move on. Gag me." Brooke said stepping up to the two of them. "We have a routine to do. You think you can do it with your 'injury'?"_

_"Brooke! How can you really be thinking about the routine when she's injured?" Peyton said joining in._

_"Because it's the first game and I want it to be perfect. Besides that, it's bad enough that I have the real cheerleader out because of an injury and now the bottom of the barrel replacement is injured too." Brooke responded and Peyton openly let out a gasp at Brooke's obvious insult to Haley. "You can pick you're jaw off the floor Peyton."_

_"That was uncalled for Brooke." Lucas said gritting through his teeth._

_"Oh how sweet of you to take up for the tutor girl. It's so romantic and sweet and it makes me want to puke. Like you really care for her or something. We both know it's just a big game for you. Another famous Lucas conquest. Let's stick it to the brother from the wrong side of the tracks. Give it up. She's not one of us and she'll never be."_

_"You need to stop it right now." Nathan said getting more and more angry. Haley had yet to say a word. She wasn't sure what had provoked this whole gang up on Haley episode but kinda sucked. It kinda hurt and that surprised her more. She never let things like that get to her and now it seemed like the entire school was a witness to her bashing. "Come on Haley, lets go." Nathan said putting a protective arm around her shoulders and leading her away._

_"Put some ice on it Brooke." Lucas said disgusted and turned around, Peyton and Jake following after her._

_Nathan walked Haley to the team doctor and explained to him what happened. "Hey, I gotta go meet with the team since it's half-time but go up and sit by Mom. I'm sure she's worried about you and with all that happened. " Nathan said giving her a small smile and squeezing her good hand._

_"Alright, good luck and thanks again Nathan." she said matching his smile._

_Nathan walked down the hallway and into the locker room. Whitey was in the middle of his mid-game speech. He stopped briefly noticing Nathan. "How's your girlfriend?"_

_"Oh, she's not…I'm she's not my girlfriend. I don't know if she's ok or not. Eric is looking at her wrist right now." Nathan stammered out, visibly caught off guard at Coach calling Haley is girlfriend. He went over and sat down in between Jake and Lucas._

_"I'm sorry about Brooke. It really wasn't necessary for her to do that." Lucas said leaning over and whispering to Nathan._

_"Well maybe nothing would've been said if you hadn't started to whole think by antagonizing me." Nathan responded._

_"He's got you there Luke." Jake whispered leaning over Nathan. He had heard the whole exchange between the two of them on the court. "Come on, where's the brotherly love?"_

_"There is none." Nathan replied and Lucas just nodded his head._

_"Well at least you agree on one thing: to hate each other."_

End Flashback

* * *

Haley's mind wasn't all that clear as she tried to make her way through the crowd. The one thing that shot out in her mind the most though was that she was at Brooke's party and she wasn't sure why. She remembered wanting to come but it was just the whole why question was really screwing her over. Or maybe it was the alcohol that was in her cup that was doing a number on her. Either way, she felt like this was going to be one night she would regret.

Flashback

_"So this won't like affect my judgment or impair anything will it?" Haley asked Eric, the team doctor when he gave her a little white pill to take. She was holding it in the palm of her hand and refused to take it unless she knew all the facts._

_"It's just for pain. It'll make you a little bit drowsy but other than that it should be fine."_

_"A little bit drowsy? I'm sorry I can't take this. Taking one Tylenol PM knocks me out for like 14 hours. I'll be was past the point of no return if I take this. Nope, no thanks." she said putting the pill back in his hand and hoping off the table and using her bad hand without thinking. "Oww…give it back. Pain…" she yelped out and he gave her back the pill which she instantly took._

_After a few more minutes in the locker room, Haley managed to claim her way up the bleachers to where Deb was sitting. She decided to ignore all the stares she was getting and just keep going. She really wanted to turn around and punch everyone but knowing that wasn't quite possible, she let it go. Finally she made it up next to Deb._

_"Hey sweetie, are you ok?" Deb asked and Haley instantly caught her double meaning._

_"Yeah, Deb, I'm fine. Really. Just a little twist." she said holding up her wrist. "And the other thing is just a minor thing. I'm sure it'll all blow over by the time we have school on Monday." she replied trying more to convince herself than Deb._

_"Oh ok. How is he?"_

_"He's ok I think. Truthfully, he seemed more nervous about me getting hurt than him playing the game. He's good at what he does and I told him that so I think he'll be fine."_

_And he was. Nathan ended up scoring almost as many shots as Lucas the rest of the night. And they had won. She had to admit that she was a little proud of him. She made her way down through the masses, tripping a bit along the way thanks to the medication and finally situated herself outside of the locker room. After a few minute Nathan came out smiling and she returned the sentiment. She walked up to him and he enveloped her in a hug. "I am so proud of you! You did so well out there." she had whispering in his ear._

_"Thanks. But on to more important things, how's your wrist?" He asked letting her go and looking at her._

_"Nathan, it's fine. Just a little twisted. He gave me something for pain. It's making me a bit drowsy actually."_

_"Come on, I'll take you home." Nathan replied putting his arm around her waist._

_"Wait, I think I want to go to Brooke's party." Nathan stopped in his tracks._

_"You cannot be serious Haley. After what happened at half-time you want to go straight into the devil's lair?" Nathan asked incredulously._

_"Sure why not? She should be able to go wherever she wants to. She was invited." Lucas said coming into view._

_"Do you not have any conversations of your own? You always seem to be butting into ours. You really want to go?" Nathan asked turning his attention from Lucas back to Haley._

_"Yeah, I think I do."_

End Flashback

* * *

Peyton had decided to sit the majority of the time at this party. After Brooke's little tirade earlier, she really didn't want to be here period. It wasn't like she and Haley were the best of friends but Haley was nice and she really didn't deserve that. She had actually shown up with Lucas, followed by a little bit later with a grumpy Nathan. Who, as she noticed sitting on the steps was staring at Haley and Lucas together. She was bummed that Jake begged out at the last minute claiming something important came up and decided that Nathan needed some company.

"Hey slick, you played a good game tonight." she said coming up from behind him.

"Yeah not really good enough." he grumbled.

"What's that suppose to mean? You scored almost as much as Lucas." she replied confused.

"Nope, not really."

"Ok, I'll just admit I'm confused and maybe you'll be able to tell me what's going on."

"You see that?" he asked looking at Lucas and Haley. "That is Lucas scoring more than me."

"So you want to score with Haley?

"Nope not with her." he said turning his attention to Peyton.

"Oh."

Flashback

_Nathan had managed to get Haley home so she could shower and change. She was a bit wobbly but he was thinking that it would wear off. He didn't really want to go and he didn't think she should go either. But she was adamant and he had to keep an eye on her to make sure she was ok. He was in her room right now and she was in the shower. She had her music on and she could hear her singing through the slightly a jarred door that connected to her bathroom._

_"Haley, come on, let's go!" he said coming into the bathroom. She poked her head out of the shower curtain and stuck her tongue out at him._

_"She had some trouble with herself; He's was always there to help her, she always belonged to someone else." she sang at him and putting her head back in the shower. "Hey, you know this song reminds me of me and you. I don't really know why but it does." she called out to him and she continued to sing. He just leaned against the counter and listened._

_"You're right, it does remind me of you and me. You are loved." he said quietly. He heard the water turn off and she went to step out and screamed seeing him there._

_"What are you doing still in here!" she said covering herself with the shower curtain. Nathan could see the blush on her cheeks and he smiled at himself. He reached over and handed her the towel and she ripped it out of his hand. "Thanks." he turned away and closed his eyes as she stepped out of the shower._

_"It's not like I haven't seen it before." he said with his back still turned._

_"Hey, you can't say stuff like that. You can turn around now. I'm decent." she said and he turned around to face her. She was still in her towel. Neither of them questioned the fact that Haley was just in a towel and he was standing within a few feet of her._

_"I thought you were decent?" he smirked._

_"Well I'm not naked." she retorted. She tried to laugh a bit but stopped noticing the intent look on his face. _

_"What?" she asked and before she could say anything Nathan had closed the distance between them and was within inches of her face. She took a deep breath and gulped. And then he kissed her. As soon as it had started it ended. Haley pulled back, trying to catch her breath. "You shouldn't have done that."_

_"I wanted to." he said simply stepping back and walking out of the bathroom._

End Flashback

* * *

Haley was thinking about that moment in her bathroom a few hours before. She had called Lucas shortly after that and asked him to come and get her. She almost backed out of the whole fiasco but decided that being the bigger person was going to end up better for her in the long run. Brooke hadn't said much to her and she didn't have to; not with the look Brooke gave her when she walked in with Lucas. She had been drinking, against her better judgment and not it was really starting to affect her. She watched Nathan and Peyton talking. She wasn't even listening to the chatter around her. And then she saw him kiss her. Jealousy. There it was. Crap. And then she watched her leading him up the stairs. She turned to look at Lucas who had a bemused look on his face.

"What?" she asked.

"You. Just looking at you." he replied smirking. "It would've been a great moment if you had been looking at me instead of my little brother."

"Oh, yeah sorry about that. It's kinda weird seeing him with someone." she replied hoping her envy didn't show though.

"You mean someone other than you? Ok, sorry that was out of line."

"You want to go somewhere?" she asked suddenly looking at him intently.

"We are somewhere." he replied coyly.

"But are we somewhere where we're alone." she said gesturing to the two of them. Where in the hell was this coming from?

"No but we can be." he said pulling her off the couch and leading her somewhere she didn't know and she wasn't stopping him.

Nathan's mind was hazy but not enough to where he didn't know where this was going. And he didn't stop it either. Not once in between kissing Peyton and her leading him up the stairs and into this bedroom did he want to stop.

"Peyton…" he managed to say in between kisses and in between her pulling at his clothes.

"Shh…it's ok. I want this." she said stopping for a brief second and smiling at him.

"I want this too…"


	8. Putting Memories On a Shelf

**A/N: Okay, this story is completely written yes. It only has 17 chapters. After that it's done. Please don't ask for a sequel. Out of all my fics, this is one of my most popular but I absolutely _hated_ writing it. I felt like I could've done better and yeah. Just don't beg me for a sequel b/c I couldn't handle it so I'm not doing it. However, I am adding one additional chapter to the ending; an epilogue maybe that wasn't orignally there. So anyway, drop the love and enjoy.**

**A/N2:You're gonna hate me...**

Putting Memories on a Shelf

Haley gingerly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the sunlight steaming in. She looked around the room and realized that she had no idea where she was. Not only that, but she had no idea how she had gotten there or what had happened the night before. She tried to think but once she started that her head began pounding. Yeah, this would be one massive hangover. She could only imagine what she had done. It was then she looked over and had to put her hand over her mouth the stop her gasp from waking up the person next to her. Her first thought was déjà vu. Almost the same exact situation. Just with a different Scott brother.

"Lucas…" she whispered trying to nudge him awake. His arm was draped over her stomach and he couldn't even move. "LUCAS!" she whispered more loudly.

"Mmm…." he mumbled out pulling her closer to him. Crap. He obviously wasn't going to wake up in his current condition with her whispering approach. Now, she just went straight for his nipple and twisted. Bingo. "Oww…damn it!" he said jumping up.

"Sorry." she said innocently biting her lip. She couldn't wait any longer to ask the question that kept popping up in her mind. "What the hell happened?" Haley asked and Lucas smirked. Great. He didn't respond, instead he just stretched out and yawned. "Lucas! What happened last night?" she asked again trying to remain calm.

"You don't remember?" he asked and she shook her head no. He looked at her and motioned for her to look at herself. She did and she realized that she was naked. Double crap. "Must not have been that memorable."

"We, uh…we didn't, did we?" Haley asked stammering her question out. Upon studying Lucas's face she realized. "We did, didn't we." she groaned and feel backwards on the bed. This was a nightmare. She barely even knew Lucas. She knew he was notorious for one night stands and this was just another notch in his bedpost. She rubbed her hands over and face and tried to wake up. That was her logic. This was just a nightmare and she would wake up and laugh about it later.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." he said still smirking more awake now.

"I don't even remember it! It doesn't even matter if I did anyway…oh." she said quietly. She felt like slapping herself.

"You remember it now?" he asked noticing the change of emotion.

"Yeah…"

Flashback

_She let him lead her up the stairs. He held on to her hand tightly and she wasn't stopping him. She kept her mind focused on Lucas. The thought of Nathan kissing Peyton was pushed deep in her mind. She liked Lucas. Nathan was just her friend. Tonight she would prove that to everyone. She let her mind drift to the kiss she and Nathan had shared earlier. It was powerful and it made her breathless. And yet she had pulled away. It wasn't the first time but she would make it the last. They had decided and that was final. He was just doing this to keep her from Lucas and that's what she chose to believe._

_They made it to the room and Haley sucked in her breath. This was it. There really was no turning back now. He opened to door and it was dark. She couldn't see anything but she assumed that Lucas knew his way around. He made no effort to turn on the light. He lead her in and shut the door behind him. They stood there for a few seconds, adjusting to the darkness and staring at each other. Even in the dark, she could feel the intensity of his gaze._

_He moved within inches of her face with one stride and she let her weight fall back against the door. He reached behind her and locked the door. Haley felt her breathing become more ragged and it didn't help that his hot breath was on her neck. He kissed her there, the sensitive part right below her earlobe and she nearly lost it right there. "You sure you want to do this?" he whispered and all she could manage to do was nod. He pulled back and looked at her intently. She finally got up her courage and moved closer to him. Then she kissed him. Yes, she wanted this. Almost instantly he responded and they fell back onto the bed._

_"Lucas…" she managed to get trying to catch her breath. He stopped kissing her stomach and looked up at her. He smiled at her and it reassured her. He trailed kisses up her body, and her neck, until finally he arrived at her lips again._

_"Say you want me Haley." he told her against her lips._

_"I want you…" she replied and kissed him once again._

End Flashback

Haley held her hands over her mouth as the memories of the previous night swam in her mind. She was staring at the ceiling and then she forced herself to look at Lucas. He himself was looking up the ceiling, both hands rested behind his head. Don't panic Haley.

"It wasn't your first time was it?" Lucas asked interrupting her thoughts.

"Only once before." she said simply. She didn't really want to go into this right now.

"Oh really? You had me fooled. You're like a pro." he said turning over on his side and looking at her. She in return did the same and bit her lip. "Does Nathan know? I mean does he know your not a…well that you've done it before?" He only asked because he was surprised that Haley had even done it. It wasn't like he was complaining at all but he wondered if as overprotective he was of her he knew and if he probably pounded the guy. Much like he was worried about getting into with him about this later on.

"Well he should since he was the one who did it."

* * *

Nathan woke up the sound of running water and let his eyes skim over his surroundings. He was in someone's bedroom, in someone's bed, and he had no idea who. Peyton. Crap. Where was she? He head the water turn off and after a few minutes she walked in with just a towel wrapped around her skinny frame. Taking notice that he was up, she smiled at him and sat on the edge of the bed. 

"Morning sunshine." she said brightly and Nathan just groaned. "Sleep well?"

"Did we do much sleeping last night?" he asked still unsure what had happened the previous night. She grinned and pulled her clothes back on.

"Don't look so freaked out Nate. I'm sure you slept quite comfortably once you passed out." she paused letting what she had just said sink in and then continued once she had seen Nathan grimace. "…before we could do anything other than make out." Nathan audibly let out a sigh of relief and Peyton gave him a funny look. "Thanks hot shot."

"Oh, no its just, I really would've been an ass and I'm not because we didn't do anything."

"Alright…whatever you say." she said giving him a confused look and lying down one the bed beside him. "So how long have you been in love with her?" she asked bluntly.

"With who?"

"With her." she said mocking him. "Like how many hers are there that you're in love with?" she said giving him a 'duh' look.

"It doesn't matter because she's not in love with me." he replied simply. "Hey, I'm gonna go downstairs and get something to drink." he said suddenly feeling very claustrophobic and needing to get out. Once he got up and pulled his pants on he stepped out into the hallway and ran into her. Haley. She wasn't wearing anything other than the shirt Lucas had on the previous night. He winced knowing exactly what had happened. It hurt. Bad.

"Tell me you didn't…" he said quietly.

"Nathan…" she started to stay but he held up his hand cutting her off. Giving her one last look he turned around and went back into the bedroom slamming the door. Peyton jumped up off the bed and looked him curiously.

"She slept with him." he said quietly and laid down next to Peyton.

"Haley and Lucas." she said knowingly. He nodded. "And this obviously bothers you. So you do have a history huh?"

"We slept together." he said not looking at Peyton. Just staring out the window.

"Really? When?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. She didn't want to pry but this was just too good to not know.

"Last summer." he said not wanting to divulge to much information.

"And you remained friends. Wow. That's pretty insane. I don't think I could do that."

"It wasn't my choice. It was either just be friends or never speak to her again."

* * *

Haley scrambled into the bathroom, slamming the door and letting her body slide against it to the floor. She let the tears come; she wouldn't fight them. She had hurt him again. She saw it in his eyes. The same look he had last summer. She hadn't told Lucas the full story of what happened and managed to excuse herself to go to the bathroom. Running into him. She hadn't decided if she wanted to tell Nathan about Lucas or not but this solved that problem. It wasn't how she wanted him to find out. 

"Hey." she said once she had managed to get herself straightened up and back into the bedroom. She slipped back underneath the covers and didn't let herself get to close to Lucas. It was still freaking her out a bit. "So we don't have to worry about whether or not Nathan will find out. Kinda ran into him in the hallway." she said groaning.

"Really. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to come barging in her to kick my ass." he said as if it didn't bother him.

"Funny Luke, really. I didn't even know if I wanted him to know and now the does and he's not mad, well not yet. He's hurt and I did that to him and I messed up. Oh and before you get any ideas, don't even think about asking who's better because I will not compare the two of you. It's bad enough that I did it but I will not…" she was interrupted by her rambling but Lucas leaning over and kissing her. It caught her by surprise at first and then she let herself relax and kissed back. "Sorry." she said pulling back and looking down sheepishly.

"How'd it happen?" he asked her. She really didn't want to go into the whole sordid story. She had never told anyone and she and Nathan had never talked about it after that one night. He had tried and she had finally given him an ultimatum. She sighed and let her mind drift the that night last summer.

Flashback

_Haley was just closing up the café when Nathan walked him grinning goofy. She couldn't help but smile back at him as he sat down at the counter. They didn't speak, she just poured him his regular drink and continued to clean up. She was sweeping now and he was facing her, sitting on a stool, back to the counter._

_"Ok, I give up. What are you so cheery about?" she asked as she stopped moving the broom and looked at him with one hand on her hip. He just grinned even bigger and didn't say anything. "Nathan! Come on, I don't like surprises."_

_"Do you remember me saying that I wanted to do more with my basketball?" he asked and she nodded coming up and sitting next to him on an adjacent stool. "I think I found a way."_

_"Oh Nathan. That's so good. I'm happy for you. So what is it?" she asked excitedly._

_"It's something called High Fliers so before you get your hopes up don't. It's really had to get into and you have to be really good. That and the fact that they only pick on kid from each school and you know what that means."_

_"Lucas. Ah, Nathan I'm sure you'll do it. So you applied though right and did all that stuff?" she asked he nodded. "Good. Now we get to celebrate." she said patting his knee and hopping off the stool._

_"Celebrate what?" he asked confused._

_Now, and hour later they, were at the beach, fire lit, wrapped up in a blanket and drinking. Nathan managed to swipe some of his mom's stash and now they were almost done with the bottle. Haley was getting pretty tipsy and he was just feeling it._

_"So we should play a game or something." Haley said giggling when she hiccupped._

_"What kind of game could we play with only the two of us?" he said laughing with her._

_"True or dare."_

_"I know everything about you Hales." he said tucking her hair behind her ear._

_"Fine then, just dare." she replied sticking her tongue out at him. "You go first. I dare you to…ok I got it. I dare you to go jump in the ocean." she said grinning. He frowned for a minute then smiled getting up. He reached over and pulled Haley up and over his shoulder. "Nathan put me down! No, you can't do this! I said you, not me!" she yelled banging her fists on Nathan's back. Suddenly, Nathan lost his footing and fell forward landing on top of Haley. He didn't make a move to get up. He was face to face with her and all he wanted to do was kiss her. They were both breathing deeply and he realized what could happen if he let this get too far. This was his best friend and he knew he couldn't do that. He made a move to push himself up but was caught when she grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her. She smiled against his lips and kissed him._

_The next morning they woke up to the sunrise, tangled up in the blanket they were lying on the night before. Haley was lying in Nathan's arms but jerked up once she realized it was him. She scrambled to find her clothes and Nathan woke up to all the commotion. They didn't at all. Not while they were getting dressed; not while they picked everything up; and not the entire way to Haley's house. Nathan pulled up in front of her house and was the first to speak._

_"I meant what I say last night." he said quietly not looking at her._

_"I know you love me Nathan." she said putting her hand on his own._

_"No, Haley. I'm in love with you. Don't you get that?" he asked moving his hand away and looking at her._

_"You don't. You can't. Don't you get that? We're friends and that's the way it's staying." she said firmly._

_"So what? Either we're friends or nothing at all?" he asked getting angry._

_"Yeah. I…last night was a mistake." she said lying. In all actually, it was probably the best experience she had even encountered. It was the him, who she did love that she had her first time with and that was special to her. She wouldn't mess up their friendship though. "I'll cherish it Nathan but it wasn't right. So friends?" she asked hopefully._

_"Yeah, friends."_

End Flashback

Nathan had just finished the whole story and it brought back both good and bad memories for him. It just wasn't something he liked to think about often. It hurt him too bad.

"So that's it? You did it, you admitted you're in love with her and she gives you that ultimatum?" Peyton asked incredulously.

"Yup, pretty much. Sucks for me." He paused before continuing. "I kissed her last night."

"And…"

"We're still just friends."

**Let the bashing begin...**


	9. It's That Quiet Passion Everlasting Love

**A/N: Hey guys; sorry for the late update. My life sucks right now. Well, enjoy. Review. Good stuff. :)**

It's That Quiet Passion Everlasting Kind of Love

Haley let out a deep sigh and looked at Lucas. So there it was. Nathan and Haley had slept together one time, ages ago it felt like. They hid it well. She refused to speak about it at all until that day. But him kissing her the previous night, it felt like she was right there back on that beach. Nothing had changed. That passion was still there and that's what scared her the most.

"So out with it." she said turning her head to look at Lucas. He gave her a curious look. "Oh come off of it, I know you have something to say so just spill."

"I mean, wow. I thought, if anything it was…I didn't think it was anything. I thought it was some weird overprotective thing." Lucas said with a somewhat bewildered look on his face. Haley had intently left off the part where Nathan had told her he loved her. She remember that part more vividly than anything. Right in the middle of it all he had said those three words. She didn't know how to respond, so instead she just kissed him even more. That seemed to pacify him. Now, maybe she should've set the record straight.

"He kissed me last night." she said interrupting the silence that had overcome them. Lucas perked up and eyebrow and she continued. "Well that's it. He kissed me, I pulled away, he left and I called you."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to come and I thought you could give me a ride." she said simply.

"No, why did you pull away?"

"I don't…what does that have to do with anything?" she asked scratching her head avoiding the question.

"Haley, don't answer a question with a question. Just answer the first question."

"It wasn't right." she returned.

"Why not?"

"Are you suppose to be my shrink or what? What exactly is this? First we're enemies. Then I'm your tutor, and now I'm, I'm, uh, I'm just I don't even know what to call this!" she said changing the subject completely, grasping on for anything. Lucas remained quiet for a few minutes gathering his thoughts after Haley's outburst.

"We could be friends…" he offered.

"Friends." Haley scoffed. "Kinda like me and Nathan huh?"

"Well as of right now, I can honestly say I'm not in love with you so that wouldn't exactly compare." he pointed out.

"And last night?"

"Chalk it up to alcohol and hormones. Whatever makes you feel better." he replied indifferently. Haley glared at him for a few minutes before getting up and pulling the sheet around her. "Where are you going? What's your problem?"

"Chalk it up to just the hormones." she spat before gathering up her clothes, giving him one final glare, and slamming the door.

* * *

Peyton couldn't have pictured or come up with anything more juicy than what Nathan had just revealed to her. It was the Holy Grail of gossip but she knew she would keep it to herself. It wasn't her memory to throw around. Even though, she barely knew Nathan, he seemed to be a really good guy behind the gruff exterior and she didn't really want to hurt him.

"So whatcha thinking? I know you are." Nathan said interrupting Peyton's thoughts.

"I just…I mean I thought it might've been a Pretty in Pink, Ducky type crush with an accidental kiss. Not this steamy, torrid, one night affair on the beach sands. So you really kissed her last night?"

"She got out of the shower and it just sorta happened. I didn't really think about. I saw her, I wanted her, and that was it. " he replied, the events of the last 24 hours playing in his mind like some sort of bad sitcom rerun.

"So, last night…" Peyton ventured. She wasn't stupid. She knew Nathan probably used her to get Haley off his mind. She just wanted him to admit it.

"I've liked you for a long time Peyton. Don't get me wrong with that. But last night, and don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad it didn't go any further. I just don't know if I like you like that. I think we might be better off as friends. Who knows, maybe in some weird alternate universe we could've been together." he said smiling at her.

"Yeah and you and Haley would end up married and living happily ever after." she said laughing. "It's ok Nathan. I'm not worried about anything that happened, or didn't happen. It doesn't make one bit a difference to me."

"Well, don't try and hide your disappointment too much." Nathan replied sarcastically.

"Actually I was hoping Jake was gonna show up last night."

"Jaglieski?" Nathan asked shocked. Peyton smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah the one and only. I dunno, I bumped into him at the record store and invited him. He's really kinda hot." Peyton replied smiling at the memory.

"He's really kind of a loner." he said mocking her.

"Hey, come on. You're so broody and I almost got you." she said winking at him.

"Oh ok, I see how it is. I'm just some conquest for you right? Well good thing I 'conveniently' passed out last night. Otherwise you might have succeeded." he laughed at their banter. It was just so easy.

"No, but I succeeded in making you forget about her for a few minutes." she said softly once they stopped laughing.

"Yeah, a few minutes." he replied sadly.

* * *

Haley pulled on her jeans and threw Lucas' shirt off, pulling on her own. She couldn't believe what an idiot she had been. Letting him fool her like that, like she meant nothing. Then it hit her. She didn't. Just another Lucas Scott conquest. And more importantly, she had hurt Nathan. She gathered all of her thoughts and pushed her way out of the bathroom running straight into someone. Brooke.

"Tutor girl." she said smiling.

"I was just leaving." Haley huffed not really wanting to start anything with Brooke. It was in fact her house she stayed in the previous night.

"I didn't even know you had stayed. I mean I saw you and Lucas go upstairs but I didn't even think you would spend the night. So how was it?" she asked bluntly. Haley winced.

"Just because I stayed the night doesn't mean that I slept with Lucas." Haley returned.

"Right. He just cuddled you and held you. And that's why you were wearing his shirt?" Brooke asked picking up Lucas' shirt from Haley's hand. "It's ok Haley. It's Lucas, what did you expect."

"I didn't expect anything!" she yelled. So much for not starting anything. "I was drunk ok? It's not like I go around and do that sort of thing all the time. Unlike some people I hear." Haley spat.

"Yeah, poor innocent Haley. I was drunk. Boo hoo. You knew exactly what you were doing from the moment you agreed to tutor him and everything in between. Don't try the whole holy girl thing on me. I don't buy it for a second. And if you think I don't know that something's going on with the other Scott offspring you're off your rocker. Everyone knows. " Brooke screamed right back at her. Haley's head throbbed even harder if that was possible. Haley kept her calm though and came up with something that would really shut Brooke up.

"You're just pissed because you didn't end up with EITHER Scott boy. " she said not moving. Brooke remained unmoved in her face but her eyes told her whole emotion. That did it. Haley had won that argument. At that point Lucas stepped out of the bedroom followed soon after by Nathan and Peyton. Haley focused her eyes on Nathan's own blue ones.

"What the hell is going on here?" Lucas asked and Haley turned her attention from Nathan to Lucas glaring at him the entire time.

"I was just leaving." she said repeating her earlier statement. She was really over all this drama.

"What did you say to her Brooke?" Lucas asked angrily surprising Haley.

"Nothing." Brooke muttered.

"Now Brooke." Lucas said louder this time.

"It doesn't matter." Haley gritted through her teeth.

"It does if it upset you." Lucas said softly. Nathan and Peyton remained content just watching the scene unfold, keeping quiet.

"Oh kind of like the way you just upset me? Oh but wait, that was ok because it came out of you mouth right? It was ok to upset me then." Nathan's ears perked up as he listened to Haley speak about Lucas upsetting her.

"I don't know what your talking about." Lucas said quickly.

"I am not just some nobody Lucas! I don't just go around and sleep with random people and the next day have it not mean anything!" Haley yelled coming very near to tears but pushed them aside. She would not cry over Lucas.

"Oh but isn't that exactly how it happened with Nathan? The next day you were just friends and peachy and that was ok then. What's the big deal now?" Lucas spat back and Haley knew she was defeated.

"You told him?" Nathan asked anger seeping through his voice. Haley refused to look at him. She knew how he was looking at her and that just made her feel all the worse. She stayed silent for a few minutes before willing to let herself look at him. And she saw probably the worse shade in his eyes. There was none. It was the same that day last summer.

"Him of all people Haley. You just had to tell him how I made a fool of myself huh? One more punch to Nathan. Great job Hales. You successfully succeeded in pushing me completely out of your life." he said giving a mock clap and walking down the stairs. Nathan didn't care that he hadn't said goodbye to Peyton. He really just wanted to leave. Get far way from everyone.

"Nathan, wait!" he heard Haley say running down the stairs after him. Nathan didn't look back and he didn't slow down. He was out the door and halfway down the walk before she stopped him. He jerked around, fury in his eyes and in his heart and glared at her.

"What do you want Haley?" he asked sternly. She didn't speak for a few seconds and when Nathan turned to leave she grabbed his hand. Nathan couldn't let go of it. "What?" he asked a bit softer this time. Only she could crack all his resolve like that.

"Please don't do this." she pleaded.

"Don't do what Haley? Don't act like something happened between us? Don't ask like you didn't sleep with my brother and person I can't stand the most? Don't act like you haven't been using me because you have no one else?" Haley winced. That last one really hurt. "And don't do this." He said pulling her into his arms and kissing her passionately. Haley almost got herself lost in it before he pulled back. "Don't act like I'm not in love with you?"

"Nathan, that's not what I meant. You…you can't just do things like that and say stuff that sweet and expect me to just fall for it. You're my best friend and I love you to death. I would do anything for you…"

"Except love me back." he said quietly letting her go from his grasp.

At this point Lucas, Peyton, and Brooke were standing on the porch watching all the events unfold. Peyton felt most bad for Nathan because she knew how he felt about Haley and it just seemed like Haley was in it to butcher it. It really didn't make sense to Peyton. She had a gut feeling that Haley loved Nathan the same way but wouldn't show or tell him.

"So tutor girl and hot shot slept together last summer?" Brooke asked trying to get all the juicy details.

"Yup." Lucas said.

"And you slept with tutor girl?" Lucas nodded, not removing his eyes off Haley and Nathan. "And hot shot slept with Peyton?" she asked letting the shock show through in her voice.

"No, we didn't sleep together in that sense of the word. Give it a rest Brooke." Peyton blew out annoyed.

"It just wouldn't work." Haley said quietly.

"Keep telling yourself that Haley and maybe one day, when you realize what a massive mistake you've made then you'll believe it. Until then, you'll regret it."

"Why are you being so mean about this?" she asked letting her tears fall. Nathan she would let herself cry over. He didn't say anything; instead he pulled her hand up to his heart and held it there.

"You're breaking my heart Hales." he said honestly.

"You can't be in love with me. It won't work out and it's not going to happen." she said harshly, jerking her hand away from his chest.

"You won't even let it try and happen. How are you suppose to find out if you don't allow me to try and prove to you?" he asked a little too nicely for Haley's taste. She wanted this over with and she knew the only way she could do that was to make him angry and make him leave. Her resolve was cracking and she just couldn't allow that.

"Just stop it Nathan right now." she said her voice quiet but firm.

"What is it Haley? How about for once, you finally tell me how you really feel. That would be a change in pace. Haley James, actually letting her emotions control her instead of just pushing them deep inside of her and running. Because that's what you do, you feel something and you run." Boy did he hit a nerve there. Nathan knew that it was only a matter of time before he himself just shut off. It was hurting too much.

"I'm not afraid of how I feel! I'm afraid that if I show you how I really feel than I'll hut you." she said yelling. Before Nathan could say anything, she turned on her heel and walked right up to where Lucas was standing. Nathan followed after her, getting closer and stopping just short when he saw her lean up and kiss Lucas with about as much force as he did just minutes earlier.

"I'm not in love with you Nathan. I've been trying to tell you that as gently as I could. I wanted to be your friend, that's it. I feel something for Lucas." she said turning her attention to Nathan.

"Well just consider me nothing to you from now on. And before you start to protest, save it. I love you Haley. I'm not afraid to say that to you. But it hurts me too badly to just be your friend. I'll always love you. I really just want you to be happy." he said sadly before turning around leaving her. This time, she didn't come running after him like her heart screamed to do so.


	10. Hollow

**A/N: I know all of you are dying for happy Naley right now but it will be a little while before that happens. It will happen though so don't worry. I tried to get this up Friday but it wouldn't let me so blame the website. Anyway, enjoy and drop the love. :)**

Hollow

Haley just watched him walk away. She watched Peyton run after him. And she watched Brooke smirk. She watched Lucas' amused face. What a freaking nightmare. She felt her heart break and she wanted to run after him but she knew she wouldn't. She couldn't. She didn't have it in her. What little bit of soul she still possessed, she watched slink away with his retreating figure. Then she felt it. Hollow.

"Wipe that smirk off your face Brooke." she heard Lucas command. Brooke just rolled her eyes and walked inside of her house slamming the big red door behind her.

"Thanks." Haley mumbled never letting her eyes leave Nathan's retreating figure.

"I'm sorry I was a jerk earlier." he started and Haley tore her gaze from Nathan to him.

"You don't owe me anything Lucas." she stated simply.

"No, I really mean it. I don't deal with all the emotional stuff the morning after." he replied honestly and she fought the urge to cut her eyes in disgust.

"I lied."

"About…" he asked confused.

"I don't have feelings for you Lucas so you don't have to be nice to me." she replied tiredly running her hand though her hair. Lucas quirked up an eyebrow and she continued knowing he needed a fuller explanation. "I love him okay." she said throwing her hands in the direction where Nathan had been only moments before.

"Like I already didn't know that." he said sarcastically but in a light tone that put Haley at ease. "What I don't know is why you lied."

"Just can't go back." she offered lamely but Lucas didn't buy it. She dropped down on the steps in front of her and Lucas mimicked the motion.

"Bull Haley. I haven't known you that long but your feisty, you don't put up with crap. And this- this is crap. Why are you giving up?" he watched her intently calling her out.

"Because I'm allowed to give up one thing in my life. I'm allowed one mistake that's all my own. This is my mistake, to let it get this far and it's my thing I'm giving up on."

"Or it's a mistake that your giving up on him." he replied simply.

"Why do you even care?" she asked not really bitter but more frustrated than anything. This was a disaster. Only Haley James could pull this off.

"I, I don't know." he said unsure and she scoffed at him. Typical. He doesn't. "Well maybe I care about you and Nathan because I kinda care about you and…and…" Haley turned her attention from the leave she was staring hole into to Lucas. "and damn it, he's my brother." he blew out and visibly winced. Haley busted in a fit of laughter. "What's so funny?" he scowled.

"That was really painful to admit wasn't it?" she asked, still not letting up on her laughter. He continued to scowl for a few more minutes before letting go and joining in on the laughter too. Haley listened to his laughter and all the while thinking how weird her world had become in such a short time. She was losing Nathan and gaining Lucas as a friend and that was just backwards.

"I miss him already." she said sadly.

"I know."

* * *

ddddNathan didn't think he could even get that moment out of his head for the rest of his life. Who was he kidding, every single heart wrenching memory he had of her he couldn't forget. Not one. It was etched into his brain. It was a nightmare. She would haunt his dreams, even worse now. And then he felt it. Hollow.

"Nathan, wait!" he heard Peyton call out to him and he felt he owed it to her to stop and listen to her even if he didn't want to. He stopped, not turning around and waited for her to catch up to him. "Hey." she said trying to catch her breath.

"Peyton, I need to just go ok?" he pleaded. He did. He just needed to be alone and be by himself. It was the only way he could shut down. He would dream about her, he knew that, but while conscious, he would not.

"I don't really believe for a second she has feelings for Lucas and not for you." Peyton said trying to assure him. She saw in his eyes the flicker of pain and then nothingness.

"It doesn't matter." he replied unfazed. Emotionless.

"Of course it matters." she said soothingly running her hand over his arm.

"No, it really doesn't." he said stepping away from her, letting her hand drop. "I can't do this Peyton. I've been fighting with this for over a year now and I refuse to do it again. I won't beg her to love me. I want her too. But it hurts. Too much. " he emphasized and Peyton nodded. She knew, she saw it in his eyes.

"I don't know you very well Nathan," she started, unsure of herself all of a sudden. "but I do care about you, I think. You really a good guy and I know you're hurting and that's ok. I understand you want to just cut yourself emotionally off and I'm probably the queen of that. But there are moments, just brief moments, when that pain seeps out and it cuts you. Deep. And I think that's worse than actually letting yourself feel it once in for all. It's too late for me…"

"I get it." he said interrupting her. "I do." he added more softly. "It won't though. It never has. I did the same thing with Dan. I can do it with her too." he said trying to assure himself more than her.

"But Dan doesn't love you like Haley does."

"Maybe." he conceded. "But Haley doesn't love me like I love her."

* * *

One month later

Haley rushed around her room, throwing things into her overnight bag and was very near to pulling her own hair out. She was that stressed. Somehow, by a complete freak disaster of nature, she had managed to land herself a permanent spot on the cheerleading squad. It hadn't happened until a week ago when once again, Brooke had begged her to come back, apologizing profusely, and promising that she would be on her best behavior. Haley had only agreed on one condition: Brooke and Peyton teach her privately, away from Nathan. She had managed to avoid him completely for the past month, even working at his mother's diner.

"You ready Hales?" Lucas asked showing up in her doorway. She smiled fondly at the nickname he so quickly adopted.

"Yeah almost." she grumbled. This would be the first night that she would actually have to see Nathan. It was an away game, her first game since that madness a month ago and she felt panicked. She told her mom she was staying over at Peyton's which really was a half truth. She didn't know where she was going to end up. Lucas was throwing a party afterwards and that was where they were heading. Yeah, because the last one turned out great.

"You more nervous about shaking your ass in front of all those people or seeing Nathan." she shot him a death glare. It was uncanny how well he had gotten to know her in the last month. Tutoring was still ongoing, but somehow they had managed to hang out. Without the messing relationship part.

"I'm fine." she gritted out.

"Uh huh, that's why your trying to kill inanimate objects." he said referring to all the clothes she was sloshing around. "He might be coming…" he started and she shot her eyes up to met his. "Nathan…"

"Lane?" she asked for false hope. "Right." she conceded. "Why Lucas?"

"Because he's my teammate and he's my…" Lucas started but trailed off. He still had trouble admitting that part of his life.

"Your brother." she finished for him. "It's ok, I understand. You two are really doing ok… considering?"

"He doesn't trust me with you. He told me that first day that if I ever hurt you, I would regret it. I told him nothing was going on with us and I don't know if he really believed it or not but he hasn't talked about it since." Haley nodded. She knew Nathan, he had shut her out. Same thing she saw done about Dan.

"Alright, lets go." she announced pulling them out of their silent reverie. He held his hand out for her bag and she gladly handed it over to him. "Thanks. For everything I mean." Lucas nodded knowingly. He didn't know how it had happened, or how easily but they had settled into this little friendship and he had been the shoulder she cried on. He never questioned her, he knew it hurt her. She didn't show it often but she couldn't hide it either. There was something deeper there, something she refused to reveal and he didn't push.

* * *

Nathan never really knew how to 'prepare' for a game. He'd only had a few in the short time he'd been on a team and only one with Haley. They had laid on his bed and talked and laughed and that had put him more at ease than anything. And that was the first time since he warned Lucas that he had let her slip into his mind conscious. And it stung. Peyton had been around, lending a shoulder if needed it but he made it clear after a couple of times that he wasn't going to let it happen. He had lost his best friend and soul mate in all of one day. Lucas had been nice to him, he thought more to make up for Haley bashing in his heart which he considered a decent thing to do.

"Hey man, you ready?" Jake asked walking into Nathan's door and sitting down in the computer chair. Nathan had been lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. He really could care less. He and Jake had actually been hanging out and talking more, playing ball at the river court and that filled one void in his life.

"Yeah, I guess." Nathan said sitting up and rubbing his hand tiredly over his face.

"Did uh, Lucas tell you?" Jake asked hesitantly. Nathan looked at him unmoved and confused and Jake hated he had to be the one to tell Nathan. "It's uh, Haley."

"What about her?" he asked a bit too harshly than he intended.

"She's going to be there tonight…" Nathan still looked at Jake wondering what could be so special about that. "…as a cheerleader." Jake finished and watched all the color drain out of Nathan's face.

"Your kidding right?"

"Not really. Peyton said she and Brooke have been practicing with Haley for the last week privately. " he said sadly. He saw Nathan's face drop and he felt bad for the guy. Jake and Peyton had been talking a lot more now too. It wasn't like they were together, he would call it, but she was cool to hang out with and he didn't try to shove her way into his life which was perfect for him at this moment.

"Right because this night couldn't get any better." he grumbled. That and the fact that his…God, his brother, had asked him to a party. A party which he now knew for a fact Haley would be at. He felt all the walls he had quickly put up this past month crumble as thoughts of Haley swam in his mind.

"Come on, it'll be alright. We'd better get going before the buses leave and Whitey kicks our ass." Jake said patting Nathan on the shoulder and following him out the door.

* * *

Haley felt more nervous now than she had that first game. Brooke was being so sugary sweet it kinda made her want to gag but it was better than Brooke bashing her again. Peyton had told her from day one that although he didn't believe for one second that Haley didn't love Nathan and that she didn't understand it but would respect it. And for the most part she had. In fact, Peyton had become Haley's first really girl companion.

"Lucas was right. You are a ball of nerves." Peyton came up beside her, as if on cue.

"What was I thinking? Letting Brooke talk me into this again! This is going to end in disaster. I have successfully avoided him the last month and now I'm, I'm going right out there to see him face to face. What is wrong with me?"

"Haley…you're rambling and it's unflattering. You miss him. We get it. We don't get why you won't be with him but we get that you miss him. It's ok. " Peyton assured her. "Come on, we're on." she said pushing Haley out into the gym, followed by the rest of the squad. They had just announced the guys and Haley glanced nervously towards the Scott brothers. Lucas smiled at her and Nathan just stared at her. She felt that hollow feeling again and she felt like dying, right there in the middle of the gym floor.

Nathan had tried to psych himself up for this. Tried his very best to put up the cold front and in the end, just looking at her melted all the ice around him. He avoided the diner at all cost, and it had worked out very well for him. School was a breeze, he was thankful, for once that he and Haley had no classes. And looking at her right now, he didn't know what was harder. Being away from her all this time or being around her all of a sudden. He didn't have long to think, before they were done with their routine and the game at started.

Haley had watched both Scott boys play their hearts out and she couldn't help but feel more than proud of them. She had been smiling but frowned thinking of Nathan. She had no claim to him anymore. He didn't know it, she hoped he felt it, but he held her heart. It was always him. There had been no punches thrown this game, no twisted wrists. Just broken hearts and a struggle of emotions. Swoosh. She barely felt or heard all the commotion around her as the crowd jumped up in applause until Peyton pulled her to her feet and told her to cheer. Nathan had made the winning shot.

It was a short time later that Haley and Peyton, tagging along with Lucas in the middle, had made their way to the beach house. Her eyes darted around, looking for Nathan and she felt sad that she didn't see him. She didn't have to be sad for very long; she smelt him before she ever laid eyes on him. She turned slowly to see that he was behind her, Jake in tow. Peyton smiled at Jake and pulled him off in one direction while Lucas grunted and nodded at Nathan, walking off in another. Leaving them alone. The world around them slowly fell away and it really was just the two of them.

"Hi." she offered lamely, speaking up first and breaking their gaze. She looked down at her feet and shuffled them a bit before he laid his hand on her cheek steadying her. He pulled it away almost immediately, as if he was burned and Haley flinched.

"Hey." he returned almost silently before he gave her once last glance and walked away. Yup, this would be quiet the party. She gave the party one final go around with her eyes. Seeing Jake and Peyton flirting outrageously and Brooke and Lucas doing the same. Wait- Brooke and Lucas. Holy crap. She made her way over to Lucas, fighting not to go to Peyton, the lesser of two evils.

"Lucas…" she said tentatively, not wanting to interrupt. He looked up at her, his laughter dying a bit before dying completely, noticing the look on her face.

"You ok?"

"Yeah…I'm, I'm just going to go." she said trying to make a clean break. She felt like she was suffocating. Lucas nodded, understanding, and pulled her into a hug before kissing her on her cheek and letting her go.

"Wait, Haley." Brooke called out and Haley grimaced. "Just stay for a bit longer. Play a game with us." she tried and Haley felt like this was Brooke's more better way of being friendly. She thought briefly it was to bash her again but found some sincerity in her voice.

"Hales…you don't have to." Lucas started.

"I'm game." Haley heard a voice sound from behind her. Lucas paled and Brooke smiled which only meant one person. Not that she didn't recognize the voice immediately. She sucked in her breath and prepared for the worse.

"Sure, why the hell not?" she shrugged turning around a facing Nathan.


	11. The Games That Play Us

**A/N: Okay so a lot of you don't understand why if Haley loves Nathan, than why is she not with him? I'm not making her stupid...there is a reason; it just hasn't been revealed yet. It won't be next chapter but the chapter after that. OoO. Anyway, thanks for all the awesome, meaning four, reviews for the last chapter. Hopefully you won't hate me too much at the end of this chapter. So drop the love and keep the faith. :). Oh and for all those who read this story at the tutoring center; SURPRISE! I have an additional chapter. i think you'll like it. I'm writing it now and I'm enjoyin it. **

**A/N2: For those general fans of mine out there yes, i know i haven't update She Is, Havoc, and A Game we Shouldn't play. slaps wrist. I am promising updates on sunday. Try not to crucify me too much if that doesn't happen. There will at least be an update for Havoc b/c I have that half way written...I think. Hmm...**

**ENJOY!**

The Games That Play Us

Haley took a seat at the island and looked at the people around her. Brooke was setting up and everyone was chatting away. Everyone except her and Nathan. He was staring holes into her head and at that point she was just about ready to bolt. Just about. Something held her back. This was a bad idea. So bad. She didn't go though. She kept her spot and in the end decided to stare right back out him. It wasn't long before she lost that match and was now staring into her cup.

"Ok, so this is kind of like circle of death meets spin the bottle. Someone does spin a bottle but whoever it lands on picks a card. Each card means something. Like a joker means whatever you want to do. Uh, a 7 means seven minutes in heaven. So forth and so on. I'll let you know." Brooke explained. She looked around at everyone. This might actually be an interesting game. "Alright, I'm first." she announced spinning the bottle where it landed on Tim. Alright maybe not. He drew a card and turned it over revealing a four.

"What does a four mean?" Tim asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Four means…score." Brooke said painfully. Tim's eyes bugged right out of his head. "Oh don't do that Tim. This really is already horrifying as it is."

"What? You don't want you're Tim Time?" he asked innocently.

"Later Tim." Brooke responded hoping he would pass out before it got to that point. "You're turn." Tim pouted for a few seconds before spinning the bottle, landing on Lucas. It was safe to say that both boys look more than disgusted with this but Lucas still drew a six.

"I hate to even ask what six means." Lucas said frowning. Brooke was grinning.

"Six means nix. You can refuse to do anything at all or just kiss." Brooke replied and Lucas and Tim both let out an audible sound of relief. Lucas spun and it landed on Haley. Haley hadn't really been paying attention until now. She glanced up at Nathan who was still staring her down. She tentatively drew a card, showing everybody the seven she had picked up. Just freaking perfect.

"Pantry. Seven minutes. Now." Brooke said pointing to a door. Lucas looked awkward and Haley just got up and shrugged. Nathan wanted to play so now he needed to be the bigger person and step up to it.

"Let's go Luke." Haley said walking by and grabbing Lucas' hand and pulling him into the pantry.

"Ready?" Brooke called out. "Go!"

"You know we don't actually have to do anything right?" Lucas asked once they were inside. Haley just nodded and pushed him up against the back wall, kissing him.

"Haley wait." Lucas said pushing her off of him gently. She looked hurt so he continued. "Look, this isn't right. You love Nathan so what are you doing in here making out with his brother?"

"Because that's what we're suppose to do Luke." Haley snapped.

"No, it's seven minutes in heaven, not seven minutes making out in a kitchen pantry. Don't get me wrong Hales, you're an amazing kisser and you're beautiful but it doesn't feel right."

"Right. You grew a conscious. I forgot about that tiny little detail." she replied a bit too harshly than she intended. "Oh come on Luke. You wouldn't have cared a month ago. I'm kidding. I get it though. We'll just wait."

"So you think they have enough time to do a quickie in there?" Tim asked pulling everyone out of their quiet thoughts.

"TIM!" everyone except Nathan shouted at him. Tim just shrugged and took another sip of his drink.

"They've only got a minute or so left. Who knows though? They did sleep together once, who says they haven't been the last month?" Brooke asked much to the disappointment of a very angry Nathan.

"Brooke!" Peyton said hitting her on the leg so no one would see.

"OW! Oh, just kidding. Honestly. Ok, times up tutor girl! Lucas!" she yelled. They came out seconds later with no clothes disheveled and no makeup ruined. She quirked her eye up but let it go. "Alright lets go Hales, you're up. " Haley sighed and spun the bottle. Thankfully, it landed on Jake. Well it could be worse. Jake shrugged and picked up an ace.

"Alright Brooke, what does an ace mean?" Peyton asked annoyed by the fact that Jake would be doing something with Haley.

"Ace means pace. As in pace yourself in the kiss your about to give Haley. Nice and slow." Brooke replied and Jake gave Nathan a look which Nathan shrugged off. In the end, Haley leaned over and kissed Jake just as they were told. They pulled back after a minute or so, smiled, and busted out laughing.

"What so funny?" Nathan asked finally speaking up.

"Uh, it was just weird kissing her that's all." Jake replied still trying to contain his laughter.

They game went on a few more minutes before it was Haley's turn again. She had hoped this turn would end up a lot better than last two. As in not Tim and hopefully Nathan. No, that was stupid. She couldn't wish for Nathan. She could've had him but she didn't. Get a hold of yourself Haley. She spun and low and behold if it didn't land on Nathan. He barely got any action the entire game, just a quick peck on the cheek by Bevin. He showed no emotion as he picked up a card and studied it before throwing it on the table for all to see.

"What do you want to do?" Haley asked glancing from the Joker to Nathan.

"Well there really is nothing we haven't already done, so how about we just shake hands?" he asked harshly that made Haley wince as if she had been slapped.

"If you played this game to just insult me, I'll just go." Haley replied coolly.

"I figured out of the two of us, someone else should have the privileged to carry the brunt of the hurt."

"Nathan that's enough." Lucas commanded.

"No let him speak." Haley said not taking her eyes off of Nathan's own blue orbs that bared the shade she hated the most. The angry kind.

"I don't have anything else to say to you." he replied unfazed.

"Yes, you do." she encouraged.

"Ok, it's not enough that you completely dismiss me and my feelings last summer but you do it again in the present. Then, you sleep with my brother who I barely know and who pretty much made my life hell who in the end just replaced me. In your life and in your heart. As if that wasn't enough, tonight I found out that I cannot even have a reprieve in basketball anymore because you'll be that as a freaking cheerleader. For someone who would do anything for me, you suck. Just leave me alone." He had started off speaking calmly but it had quickly risen into a shout.

"I have left you alone for the last month. And I refuse to discuss this with you here, in front of everyone." she replied as if he didn't just scream at her.

"Well if you're going to be a cheerleader than I quit basketball. I won't be around you."

"Nathan, you can't just quit the team like that." Jake said trying to knock some sense in to him.

"He's right. You stay. I won't cheer. Basketball is your life and you deserve to have it. So here." she said and extended her hand. He ignored it, getting up and slamming out the door. It took her a few minutes before she reacted and walked after him.

Peyton turned her attention from Haley's retreating figure to Jake. What could she say about him? He was incredibly hot, sweet, and all around good guy. Something had to be wrong with him. They flirted enough, talked enough, but didn't really do much more than that. She figured if anything, Jake would be easy but he was far from it.

"Do I have something on my face?" Jake asked interrupting Peyton's thoughts.

"Oh, no. I was just…elsewhere."

"Yeah, elsewhere like in the bedroom, with you, fully unclothed…" Brooke started and Peyton hit her once again.

"Do you think that Haley and Nathan are ok?" Lucas asked.

"They're fine Luke. You want me to take your mind off of them?" Brooke asked suggestively.

"Ok, eww. That's my ex boyfriend Brooke. And that's my best friend Luke. Can we keep the dirty talk and PDA to a minimum?" Peyton said uncomfortably.

"For your info blondie, we haven't had any PDA…yet." Brooke replied.

"Yes, but I know you and I know it's only a matter of time." Peyton teased.

"You wanna go somewhere…elsewhere. You know, Brooke's suggestion isn't that bad." Jake whispered into Peyton's ear as the rest of the group talked. Peyton smiled, one of the rare occasions she actually genuinely smiled and Jake got up to go.

"Well isn't this just sweet." Peyton heard a girl say that she didn't recognize.

"What are you doing here?" Jake asked through gritted teeth.

"I heard about the little victory and I thought I would celebrate with my favorite guy." she said walking over to Jake and kissing him. It took a few seconds but Jake finally pushed her off of him.

"Who the hell do you think you are? I'm with someone!" Jake yelled but the girl seemed unfazed.

"I own you Jake, you know that." she smirked.

"Ok, last time I checked, people weren't property of anyone, especially Jake and especially not by someone as skanky as you are. "Peyton said getting in between Jake and the girl.

"Trying to get another girl knocked up so soon huh Jake? Always the overachiever weren't we?" she said speaking over Peyton, directly to Jake.

"Alright fine Nikki. You want to play these games then ok. Everyone, this is the whore who stole my heart and a lot more when I was 15. This is the skank that unsurprising got knocked up and pointed to me; the obviously more responsible one of the string of guys she had. Thank God for small favors and the fact that you couldn't stay sober enough to go through with the pregnancy. So there you have it. Peyton, I'm sorry you had to find out this way but there it is. " Jake said angrily. Peyton didn't think she had ever seen Mr. Passive so belligerent.

"Well Ms. Skank Whore Nikki, it really was a pleasure meeting you but I think I'll take Jake and leave you alone with you and your bitchy self." Peyton said winking at Jake and leading him away.

Nathan didn't feel like going home; he knew that he couldn't avoid his mom's questions forever. That didn't mean he didn't try. He knew Haley was behind him but luckily he had the longer stride and it took her a few minutes before she finally caught up. He really was tired of this whole charade. He didn't hate her, not for a second, and he hated that he had to pretend to.

"Nathan, wait!" she called out to him. Last time they had spoken, she was chasing after him then too. And for what? To break his and her heart all over again.

"What Haley?" he asked spinning around and glaring at her. "What pathetic thing do you have to say now?"

"We can at least be civil to each other, don't you think?"

"I'd rather just not speak to you period." he replied.

"Yeah, well I don't think that's gonna be possible quite yet with us having the same group of friends, going to the same high school, me working in your mom's freaking diner! So stop this childish behavior and grow up. It hurts, it sucks but you need to be an adult about it." she said her voice growing in volume.

"No." he said simply. She glared at him.

"I'm not sleeping with Lucas ok? I haven't even kissed him except for back there in the pantry and it lasted a whole 7 seconds." she said her voice getting softer.

"I do not care."

"Uh huh, that's why you looked like you could've killed Jake back there for kissing me and he's not your enemy."

"Don't pretend to know me anymore." he said staring at the sand.

"I don't pretend Nathan. I do know you. I know you run five miles every day. I know you like to sing in the shower even though you are pretty much tone deaf. I know you wear the musk I gave you for your birthday last year every day. I know you love omelets more than anything; specifically one's with sausage and cheese. I know that you shut people out when they hurt you. I know that you love me…" she grabbed his arms forcing him to look at her. She knew this was too much but she couldn't stop herself.

"Just stop it Haley. You wanna know what I know? You're scared. You can sit there and say that you don't love me like that but I know you do. I see the look in your eyes. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't there, that you really didn't love me like that so I could move on but I can't. It's there and you're fighting it and I don't know why."

"We're not going to talk about my feelings."

"Oh but we can sit here and dissect mine like we're on Dr. Phil or something? NO! It doesn't work that way. I say what I'm feeling, you do the same or we just don't speak. I'm tired of wearing my heart on my sleeve so you can just rip it down and throw it away." he said stepping away from her.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked getting frustrated.

"Honestly? Just be happy Hales. That's what I want the most for you. Whether it's with me or not. Look, " he said placing his hand over her heart, "this right here, this heart beating there, it's my heart. It was always you Haley. I gave you my heart and I haven't seen it since. It'll always be with you. I don't know where yours is but wherever it is, I hope it's happy."

"I…" she started but words failed her. It took all the strength in her not to say to him that her heart was the one beating in his chest. It took all the energy she had to deny him once again. And it took every once of resistance to not throw herself into his arms so she could be happy. But it all won out in the end. "I…can't. I can't do this with you." she finally said.

"I won't beg you to love me Hales. This is it. I mean it. It's really over with us. Enjoy my heart though. It'll always be yours." he said before walking away leaving Haley to listen to the waves crash onto the beach.

**Shields self from a fenzy of stones thrown by angry readers :)**


	12. THe Love That Binds Us

**A/N: Enjoy and drop the love. And if you leave a lot I'll update tomorrow and then everyone will find out the big secret as to why Haley won't commit to Nathan. :)**

The Love That Binds Us

Two Months Later

Haley sighed as she reread her English paper over once again. She was sitting in the tutoring center with Lucas just as she had the last two months. She had immersed herself in school work, begging the gods to just let her and Nathan be. And thankfully, she hadn't seen him since that night on the beach where she had let him walk away. It was only a couple of months until graduation and he would be off to High Fliers and she would be stuck here.

"So how are things with you and Brooke?" she asked.

"It's different I guess. I mean I went all that drama with Peyton, than a one night stand with you," Haley cringed. "Sorry. And now we're like best buddies and now Brooke. I consider myself extremely lucky if anything." he smirked.

"Oh you would." she replied laughing. "But I mean it is she like you're girlfriend now or what?"

"She wants to try this whole non-exclusive thing." he said shrugging and Haley just mouthed an "O".

"Hey, have you seen my notes?" she asked suddenly, throwing papers around the table.

"Hmm? Oh, no." Lucas said giving her about two seconds worth of attention.

"Alright, I think it's in my locker. I'll be right back." she said before getting up and making her way to the hallway. She dug through her locker and finally found the notes she was looking for. "Ah hah!"

"Only you would get excited over finding notes in you're locker." she froze at the sound of his voice.

"Nathan, hi." she said hanging her head down. She didn't look up for the longest time, but she felt that he was staring at her. After a couple of minutes she willed herself to look up at him and for a brief second she almost put her hand up to touch his face. But only for a brief second.

"Ah, Mr. Scott, Ms. James. Good to catch you both at the same time." they turned to see Principal Turner walking towards them as they both groaned inwardly. "Now, as you may recall, the formal is in a couple of weeks and both of you signed up at the beginning of the year to help coordinate it."

"I'm sorry, both of us?" Nathan asked clearly confused. How was Haley supposed to know that signing him up for that would come around and bite her in the ass? As Nathan noticed the pained look on Haley's face, it dawned on him what she had done. He couldn't help but smile. "Oh, yes, now I remember. When it exactly do we start?"

"Nathan…" Haley started. This was going to end up bad. She barely paid attention as Principal Turner rambled on about what their job would be and how much time they had to do it in. She was living in a nightmare.

"Hales…he's gone. Snap out of it. " Nathan said, actually snapping his fingers in front of her face for emphasis. "You signed me up for something and forgot to tell me?"

"I didn't forget to tell you. I wasn't going to, otherwise you would've made me un-sign you up and then I wouldn't have my best friend to help me."

"You still want my help?"

"No…yes…I dunno. We haven't even talked in two months. You can't just be my friend. How are we suppose to do this?" she asked. She didn't really know what she wanted. "You can help if you want, if not than don't."

"I think it might be…interesting." he replied smirking. Great, he thought this was funny.

"Fine, I gotta get back to the tutoring center. Lucas…" she stopped her sentence once Nathan's face fell. "We're not..."

"No worries. I gotta go. Later Haley."

* * *

Peyton was lying her bed, listening to music and thinking about Jake. Her boyfriend. Everyone thought she was crazy. He was just a loner and she just didn't seem that way. But in all reality, she was. She put up a façade for everyone. Very few people knew the real Peyton. Except Jake.

"Hey you, whatcha up to?" she instantly smiled at the vision of her boyfriend leaning in the door frame.

"Oh you know, the usual. Brooding, listening to music, thinking about my incredibly handsome and charming boyfriend." she replied smiling. He smiled in return and sat down on the bed beside her. "Jake, can I ask you something?" she asked timidly.

"Of course, anything."

"That whole thing with Nikki…" she started. She didn't really know if she was diving into dangerous waters. She never felt like it was her place to ask the history there but now she felt close enough to him to ask. "I mean if you don't want to talk about it's cool."

"No, it's ok. You told me all about your history with Lucas, so I guess I should tell you my whole story. Nikki and I met when I was sixteen; some party we both happened to be at. She was a senior and I was shy and I guess she liked the challenge. She pursued me for months until finally I caved. I am a guy. I never saw her again until right after she graduated and told me she was three months pregnant."

"Wow." was all Peyton could manage to squeak out.

"Yeah. I was so scared and pissed off. I knew I wasn't the only guy she had been with. But she knew that I wouldn't turn my back on her, even if there was a chance it could have been mind. She's a conniving little bitch. She tried to trap me. But she didn't take care of herself, wouldn't stop drinking, wouldn't stop partying. In the end, she miscarried and left town. Hadn't heard from her since then. Until that party."

"Ever think of what your life would've been like if she hadn't had miscarried?" Peyton asked quietly.

"Surprisingly, all the time. Why do you think I kept to myself so much? Could you imagine me being a father?" he said trying to force a laugh.

"Not every girl is Nikki." Peyton responded. She knew she wasn't a Nikki. They hadn't even made it to second base yet, that much was true. He always held back, assuring her that it was him, that he wasn't ready. Two years since the scare with Nikki, two months since that night and too many disappointments to count. Peyton knew it didn't have to be about sex but she wanted him to want her. She wanted to experience the good that could come out of it.

"I realize that Peyton, I'm just not-"

"Ready." she finished for him. "I know Jake. I've been hearing that for months now."

"Look, you just don't understand…" and with those words, Peyton snapped.

"Ok, so maybe I never ended up pregnant, trying to blame someone to be the father who clearly wasn't but I did sleep with Lucas for two years. I did do that much. It wasn't a picnic Jake. We never did that because we loved each other. We did it because we were bored and we were horny. There was no love or magic involved. So maybe I just want to experience that with someone I love. I'm not trying to trap you or condemn you to a life of fatherhood. I am on birth control. Hell, we could even use a condom. What are you so afraid of? And why the hell are you looking at me like I'm crazy?" she finished trying to catch her breath from her tantrum.

"You said you loved me." he replied simply. Peyton's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Did she love him? Crap. How could she have let that slip out?

"It slipped out." she said.

"Did you mean it?"

"Does it even matter if you don't feel the same way back. You'll screw someone who you don't love and you won't screw me so obviously something is wrong with me and if there isn't and you do love me than something is seriously out of whack here."

"Yes or no, Peyton." he urged.

"I think you should leave Jake." she said firmly playing with one of the curls in her hair. She didn't want him to go, but she didn't want to admit her feeling either. She wasn't ready for that yet. And maybe she wasn't ready to hear him say that he couldn't love her back. He didn't respond, just nodded and left the room.

* * *

Lucas looked up from his book that he was reading, finally dawning on him that Haley had left sometime before and didn't return. It was odd to him how he and Haley had become so close in the past few months, mostly because he knew in the beginning it was only to get inside Nathan's head. But after that first night at the movies, there was definitely something different about her.

"Lucas! There you are!" he looked up to see Brooke marching into the room.

"Oh hey to you too Brooke. Yes, I'm doing very wonderfully." Lucas responded.

"Well isn't that just lovely? Me? Not so much you conniving little…you…you are such a jerk Lucas Scott!" she spat back at him. Lucas gave her half an amused look and turned back to his book.

"I have no clue as to what you're talking about Cheery." Brooke's eyes widened in anger and snatched the book from Lucas' grasped.

"Listen here you little ingrate. First off, you will NOT ignore Brooke Davis. Secondly, you will not call me any cute nicknames. And most importantly you will not threaten to kick Grant Turner's ass because he asked me out! What part of non exclusive did you not get?"

"The part where we're suppose to be NON exclusive. I don't like sharing." Lucas replied curtly snatching the book back from Brooke's hands.

"Kinda like you weren't sharing Haley with Nathan the night you slept with her?"

"Leave Haley out of it." he responded.

"Oh, I forgot, you don't like sharing but lets be secretly in love with some girl who's so hung up on you're brother that she would never even think about seriously dating you."

"I'm not in love with Haley." he replied quietly his anger laced throughout his voice.

"Please." Brooke scoffed.

"Damn it Brooke! I'm not in love with Haley! Chance's are I'm probably in love with you!" he screamed suddenly. His anger quickly went to shock as he realized what he had just revealed. Something he tried to bury very deep with in him.

"You…huh?"

"Nothing Brooke. Just go out with Grant Turner. Go out with whoever the hell you want to. I don't really care. Just leave me alone." he muttered.

"Lucas…"

"Brooke. Go. Now." he replied firmly. Brooke didn't really know what to say to make this situation any less tense or awkward. She accepted the fact that it might've gotten serious with Lucas but never really worked out the details of love being involved. And she couldn't really count on her own judgment because for the first time in her life she didn't know what to feel.

But she knew that she was feeling. Something she hadn't let herself do in a long time.

She looked up to see Lucas returned to his book, fully engrossed in whatever topic he was reading. She nodded to herself and let herself retreat from the room much quietly than she had entered.

* * *

Haley looked down at her watch and realized that it was time for her to be done with the tutoring center anyway. As she watched her best friend and soul mate walk away from her, something she had grown quite accustomed to in the last several months she couldn't help but feel sad about it. She didn't want to feel sad anymore.

"Nathan, wait!" she called out to him biting her lip and closing her eyes, begging her inner Haley to give her strength. He turned around slowly and strolled back up to her.

"Yes?" he asked coyly. Haley thought back for a minute, wonding how much of him she had missed the past couple of months. He didn't seem broken anymore, no long a slave to his love for her. And looking into his eyes, she realized that she saw a shade in his eyes she had only seen once before.

Acceptance.

The same shade she saw the day his mother told him about his father. The father who didn't want him. It didn't really take a lot to accept that, he'd pretty much known it his whole life. But this, this acceptance, had taken him a while to comprehend and it made Haley all the more sad for him. For herself, as well. But mostly for the love that they would probably never get to share.

"I uh, I spaced out listening to Principal Turner. Give me the run down will ya?"

"Tutor girl not paying attention. Tisk, tisk Ms. James. Alright, we gotta pick a theme, we have X amount of dollars for the budget, and the deadline is in like two weeks." Haley winced. Ok, could someone explain to the principal the importance of giving someone a head's up? Two weeks?

"We should get started now." she replied taking him by the hand and leading him down the hallway. Both of them were now concentrating not on what the task at hand, but the spine tingling sensations they were feeling from the touch that hadn't been tampered with in so long. Too long.

"Hales, where are we going?"

"Uh, the school basement. They have props and stuff down there. We can try and find something to help us pick out a theme, that way we can reuse the old stuff and save money getting cool stuff." she replied still walking and not turning around to face him. If she faced him, she might lose her nerve and break contact. As if knowing what she was thinking, Nathan twisted his wrist, getting a better grasp on her hand and holding on tighter.

"I didn't even know we had a school basement." Nathan replied chuckling. Haley suddenly stopped in front of a door Nathan swore he had never seen in his life. Even if it was a mere five feet from the gym. She let go of his hand, much to his dismay and walked in.

Twenty minutes later, they had rummage through enough musty decorations that it had caused Haley to had a sneezing fit, making Nathan laugh uncontrollably. And they were at ease. It was like the past months had never occurred. It was Nathan and Haley, best friends, against the world, and having a blast. They just didn't realized that it was about to last a lot longer.

"We leaving?" Haley asked confused as Nathan made his way up the stairway to the door.

"Well, I think if we stay in here any longer, you'll die of sneezing too much and I'll die of either/or laughing too much or a broken heart. So come on pokey, let's go." he said laughing. He reached the door and turned the knob. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh what? What's an 'uh oh'?" Haley asked coming up to stand beside Nathan.

"We're locked in."


	13. Nothing to Give & Everything to Lose

**A/N: Okay guys, the reviews for the last chapter sucked so hopefully with the big reveal in this chapter I'll get some more. So enjoy but don't hate me with the outcome. **

I Fear…Nothing to Give and Everything to Lose

Haley sighed, letting herself slid down the door that she just closed behind her. It was now 7:30 in the morning and she was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. But she was home for now and with that, she was left alone to consider the consequences of the previous night. She had spent twelve hours in a room, alone with Nathan, unable to escape.

Flashback

"_We're locked in? What is that suppose to mean?" Haley asked, jiggling the handle, panic rising in her voice. Then it suddenly dawned on her. "The janitor must've locked it before he left. We're pretty much screwed over." she mumbled, sinking down to the floor._

"_Well as usual Hales; thanks for the love." Nathan muttered sinking down next to her. _

"_You know that's not what I meant ok? No one's going to be here for at least another ten hours. We have no food or water. OH! And no bathroom. I have a test tomorrow I wanted to study for. I don't have my cell phone. Where's yours?"_

"_In my gym bag. In the gym. Look I realize the whole negative aspect of this situation but what about the positive?"_

"_What positive would that be?" she asked sarcastically._

"_Well would you rather be locked in a basement with me or with that annoying Neil kid you tutored last year?"_

"_Honesty? Right now, I think I'd rather be with Neil." Haley replied running her fingers through her hair._

"_Guess I didn't make that list." Nathan frowned. Haley looked at him confused. "You know the list of people you would like to be stuck in an elevator with. Or in our case, a dingy basement." _

_She didn't respond and Nathan didn't make an effort to talk anymore either. Truthfully, he was happy that he was here with her, alone and confined. He was also afraid. Afraid of rejection and humiliation. He had come to terms with their relationship being over. If by some miracle she told him she wanted to try and be friends again, he knew he wouldn't be able to. He wanted her to be happy but her being happy with someone else, he couldn't handle. _

"_Lucas and I aren't dating." she said suddenly pulling him out of his thoughts. She didn't know why she felt the need to assure him of that but she wanted him to know none the less. To her surprise, he laughed._

"_I kinda figured that when he and Brooke were sucking each other's faces at practice. If I thought the two of you were dating, he would've probably been beaten by now because of that." _

_They fell into another awkward silence. Haley sighed, pulling herself to her feet and walked around the room. She didn't want to be that close to him, smelling him. It only made her want to jump into his awaiting arms and never leave. But she had to. She couldn't stay with him. _

_It was a bad thing that Haley was such a klutz. It was worse when she was thinking, which is exactly why she tripped over some decoration and nearly fell. Nearly, but not quite. She was caught by two strong arms. He didn't let her go, just watched her, and for a moment Haley wondered if he would kiss her._

_He didn't._

_He lessened his grasp and helped her stand on two straight feet. He gave her a small smile, walking away from her and sitting on the opposite side of the basement. She decided that walking was not her best option and opted to sit down on her side. The silence was suffocating. _

"_Nathan…" she wined. _

"_Hales…" he mocked._

"_I'm so bored."_

"_We've been here for like fifteen minutes. We've got eleven hours and forty-five minutes remaining. You should try and get some sleep." he returned smiling at her._

"_Yeah, like I'm really going to sleep on this nasty floor." she said, fully disgusted. _

"_You used to roll in the dirt with me and Mouth. Now you're worried about getting a little dust on you?"_

"_I was nine years old Nathan. That doesn't count." she replied narrowing her eyes at him in mock anger._

"_Why Haley?" _

_She was tempted to ask 'why what' but new better of it. She knew what he was asking but she wasn't really sure if she had an answer. So this was it; she could answer him or just ignore it. She chose the latter._

"_So did you ever figure out you're porn name?" _

"_What?" he asked caught completely off guard and confused._

"_You know, the maiden name of your mom and the name of your first pet." she replied._

"_I never had a pet." he responded._

"_Alright, new question. "_

"_Oh, wait, when I was in kindergarten I had a pet turtle. I named him Shell." _

"_Shell? What kind of name is that?" she asked laughing. _

"_It was the only think my five year old mind could think of. Besides, what kind of name is Bunny for a bunny?" she scowled him which made it his turn to laugh. _

"_Not the point Scott. So let's see. Shell Lee. Wow. You're a cross dressing porn star." she said busting out laughing. It took him a few seconds to find the humor in it but he did laugh with her. If anything, he just wanted to keep hearing her laugh. Even it was at his expense. _

"_So next week on Dawson's Freaks…" he started with caused her even more laughter._

"_This week has Bunny Beaugard falling, over air, flat on her face, butt in the air. Full blown embarrassment…."_

"…_sorely missed by none other than Shell Lee." Nathan finished. _

"_Oh do you remember that time when were like twelve, I think, and I fell off of that fence?" she asked._

"_Yeah that was so not funny." he deadpanned._

"_Come on, that was hilarious. Here I was, perched on top of a fence and just fell right off." she recalled laughing._

"_You forget about that part where your wrist got caught and you nearly broke it." he pointed out._

"_I did not. It didn't even hurt."_

"_Whatever you say. That scared the crap out of me. But you know what didn't that was so funny?" he asked smiling and Haley was afraid to ask._

"_Well spill it."_

"_Remember when we were fourteen and we were playing in the rain at the river court?" Haley nodded and Nathan continued. "I was chasing you and you slipped on the pavement and fell. You and I fell out laughing about it. You always laugh at yourself when you got hurt."_

"_That was the day you kissed me. I fell down laughing, you laid down beside me and kissed me." she remembered._

"_Yeah, you told me that nothing could happen to you that would surprise you anymore and I kissed you. I remember you saying 'Well except that.' I didn't even think about it then. I just acted on what I wanted to do and prayed to God you wouldn't whoop that crap out of me. " he said laughing. _

"_This is nice." Haley said quietly once all the laughter had died down. _

_This is where Nathan had a choice. He could simply agree with her or he could push for more. He wanted more…so much more. If he pushed too much she would run away again and right now he didn't want that. _

"_Yup." _

"_I've missed you." she said quietly after a few minutes not looking at him._

_He didn't say anything and she understood why. If he spoke, it would ruin it. She knew he missed her; she just wanted him to know that she missed him too. She willed herself to look at him and smiled, almost chuckling at herself. He was sleeping. He hadn't heard. She got up and walked over to him, slinking down the wall next to him and resting her head on his shoulder where she soon followed, joining him in his slumber._

_Nathan woke up in what seemed like hours later to feel warmth beside him. Smelling her scent. He looked at his watch realizing it had only been an hour or so and yawned. He contemplated waking her but didn't want to ruin this. He had heard her speak right before falling asleep. _

_She missed him._

_Now if only she could admit she loved him all would be right in the world. So he chose to just live right now, with her missing him, silently loving him and holding her in his arms. Almost nothing could be more perfect right now in his world. He pulled her in tighter into his arms, snuggling up against her and whispered into her hair._

"_I love you."_

_Hours later, Haley jolted up from her slumber causing Nathan to groan in pain as she accidentally elbowed him in his stomach._

"_Damn it Haley." he muttered rubbing his stomach. _

"_I'm sorry." she said sympathetically as she helped rub his stomach. She thought for a moment before lifting his shirt up and gently placing butterfly kisses on his stomach. "Better?" she asked looking at him._

"_Uh huh." he gulped. He watched her intently as the tears that glistened her eyes threatened to spill over. "Haley?"_

_She slid back from him, terrified of what would come out if she stayed any closer. At that moment, getting lost in those deep blue eyes, she would've let it out. She was afraid, mortified. She was still sliding back when he caught her hand. He never took his eyes off of her as he pulled her gently back to him._

"_Why Haley." he commanded once more._

"_Because I'm in love with you." she managed to get out barely above a whisper. She went to bow her head, but his other hand caught her chin forcing her to look at him. _

"_And that's why you can't be with me?" he asked. He didn't yell, didn't look shocked, and he didn't really question that much. _

"_Yes." she whispered once more. He nodded in what he hoped was understanding. Staring into her eyes, he realized just how scary that was for her. _

"_Why are you so afraid?" _

"_I don't know." she told him honestly. _

"_Don't be a coward Haley. You've always taken the easy way out. Always. It won't be easy; hell, it'll probably be the hardest thing we've ever had to do. I'm scared too. But you know what outweighs my fears more than anything? My love for you. You're it Haley. It was always you. What's the point if you won't even try?"_

"_Whatever ever happens tomorrow-today, whatever happens once we leave this room, know this: I will always be in love with you. My heart is with you Nathan. You know it's there, beating within you." she placed her hand over his heart and looked at him as the hot tears flowed freely down her cheeks. He went to wipe them off and she swatted his hand. She kissed him, slowly, softly, and for the last time. _

"_But, Haley…"_

"_I can't be with you." she said firmly. _

"_Give me one damn good reason why not." he replied, his stubborn side shining through. _

"_Because my love doesn't outweigh my fears. Somewhere along the line we'll hurt each other, we might not work, I might not be the best thing for you. I don't want to hurt anymore Nathan. "_

"_I'm not going to hurt you Haley." he replied more softly but still firm._

"_You can't promise that." _

"_What's hurting you so much that you won't open up to me? I'm probably the one person in the world who loves you more than anything. Let me help you." he pleaded._

"_Do you remember that week I went to visit my sister last October?" she asked quietly. He nodded and she gulped, deciding it was time for him to know. "I didn't go visit my sister Nathan. I was in the hospital."_

"_In the hospital? Why didn't you tell me? What were in you in there for?" he interrupted, his mind drifting through a million different possibilities. She smiled sadly at him, placing her fingers on his lips quietly. He nodded, understanding that she needed to get it out. _

"_I thought to myself right before it happened that it was nothing. The queasiness, the tiredness, the fact that my period was a few weeks late…it was all just a weird misunderstanding. I sat in the bathroom, crying and begging someone to tell me why this had happened. Part of me was happy; part of me was filled with regret and sorrow. But mostly it was fear. I took five tests-FIVE. All five positive."_

"_Haley…" his voice broke in the pain that he was feeling right now. She ignored him and continued with her memory, never bothering to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. _

"_It was such a stupid thing. Just a normal typical thing for me to do. I had just got done from walking home and it was so hot that day. So unbelievably hot for an October Tree Hill. I got some ice out of the freezer, spilling some and not bothering to pick it up. I got some water, put the cup in the sink and turned to walk up to my room. I slipped and fell. It really hurt then but it hurt later on that night when I woke up in agonizing pain. I flipped on my lamp, and nearly screamed at all the blood on my sheets. I lost it Nathan. I couldn't face you after that. I stayed at home that week, dealing with it, burying it. I never thought about it since. Not once. I forgot our child that I lost."_

_Nathan didn't respond and Haley stopped crying. She gave him a small smile before crawling back over to her side of the basement, pulling her knees up to her chin and waiting for rescue. A little after seven in the morning, her hero came, opening the door and she watched as Nathan bolted out of the opening. _

End Flashback

Now, as the rested against the door of her home, she finally was able to let go. Let go of the one thing she had buried so deep inside of her and tried to forget. She wouldn't forget, but she had healed. Now it was time to mourn the loss of him.


	14. Without a Mask Where Will You Hide?

**A/N: I promise this will end a happy naley. Just give it some time okay? It's only got 3 more chapters left. Enjoy. :)**

Without a Mask Where Will You Hide?

Lucas was the first to admit that his life was a mess right now. Between what happened with Brooke and school plus basketball, it was a lot to take on. But right now what concerned him the most was that he hadn't heard from Haley since the day before yesterday when she just up and disappeared. He knew she showed up at school but carefully avoided anyone. Nathan seemed more pissy than usual and he assumed that something was up.

"Is there some reason you ditched me and now are avoiding me?" Lucas said from Haley's doorway. She was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"I've had a rough couple of days." she replied simply.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked coming over and lying down on the bed beside her.

"Nope."

Haley soaked in the silence that enveloped them. Why would she want to talk about it? She admitted she was in love with Nathan and she admitted why she was so afraid. Somehow, talking just wasn't something she wanted to do right now. She was however, glad that Lucas was there just in case.

"So I possibly admitted that I loved Brooke." Lucas said disrupting the silence. Haley turned her head to face him with an amused look.

"How do you 'possibly' admit that? So I take it that it didn't go well?"

"Not exactly. She thought I was in love with you. Then I kinda blurted it out and then I got pissed and told her leave. We've been doing that little dance called avoidance. But hey, you know that one too don't you?" He joked. "Ok I know you don't want to talk about it-"

"That's right."

"Well too bad. What the hell happened? Nathan's extra pissy and so is Jake for that matter. But I can't handle it because I'm in a pissy mood too." Lucas exasperated.

"Ok look, I told him I was in love with him and he didn't say anything to me. So there you go. We're not meant to be or anything like that. It's just not going to work out. "

"Man that sucks."

"Yup."

* * *

Nathan stood at the river court sinking shot after shot. It was the most depressed he had ever been. He had begged Haley to open up, let him help her with her hurt and he abandoned her. Yeah, that really proves how much I loves her. It was then that he saw Jake walking up to him motioning for him to pass the ball to him which Nathan gladly obliged.

"I screwed up." they both said at the same time.

"What did you do?" Nathan said again at the same time as Jake. Nathan waved Jake on to tell first.

"I won't go any further than first base with Peyton and she admitted she loved me. Oh and I didn't say anything back. I'm a royal jackass. Now your turn."

"I well let's see, I get locked in a basement with Haley who finally admits that she's in love with me but is afraid and tells me why and I shut her out. I'm a bigger jackass." Nathan replied.

"Yeah well the jury is still out on that one."

"So you haven't talked to her?" Nathan asked.

"Nope and I'm guessing you haven't talked to Haley either. What was the big secret anyway?"

"I think I need to let it sink in first myself. You love Peyton?"

"I don't know." Jake replied honestly.

"You do. You look at her the same why I look at Haley. I can't believe you won't go past first base with Peyton Sawyer. No offense dude, but I would've made it to home if I hadn't have passed out. " Nathan laughed as Jake scowled.

"It's that whole thing with Nikki has got me freaked out. You know what I went through, I told you."

"How did you take all that? I mean say Peyton had been the one pregnant and she lost it, how would you handle that?" Jake eyed Nathan curiously but decided that honesty was probably what Nathan needed right now.

"I would probably be at first relieved but more sad than anything that I didn't get to experience that with the one person I may love more than anything. I'm too young to be a dad right now Nate and I'm thankful that it didn't come to that. But if it was with Peyton, than I'd probably still be wondering 'what if'?"

"Haley was pregnant and she lost it. That's why she couldn't be with me before. She didn't even tell me. It hurts me and I'm not even sure why." Nathan said all of a sudden. Jake wasn't exactly sure of all the exact details of what his and Haley's relationship was but he knew he had to be there for him.

"You loved her and she was hurting and you could do nothing to protect her."

"I don't know how to make this better. It scares me more than anything. I love her so much Jake. I just can't be perfect. What do I say to her?"

"How about trying to say to her exactly what you just said to me? You're not perfect, you love her, and it's all just a little bit scary but you're going to do the best you can to make it better."

"And this is what you'll say to Peyton. I love you and I need you in my life. I'm sorry I'm too much of an idiot to go to round the bases with you but I do want you; I'm just a little bit afraid too." Nathan replied.

"Alright now that we've got that settled how about we actually do something about this?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Brooke made her way up Peyton's stairs, following the broody music and trying to figure out how her life flip-flopped so dramatically in such a short amount of time. Lucas loved her? This was all a little too weird for her taste. And she thought he loved Haley. Ha. That was priceless. The joke was on her this time.

"So I hear the makings of the depression era music…what happened?" Brooke said coming into view of Peyton's doorway.

"I so screwed myself over." Peyton muttered.

"Ha. Funny how that seems to be going around. Alright, well I'll go first. It might be kind of in the eww territory but Lucas and I are in that kinda friends with benefits area. I don't think we're there anymore. Or anywhere for that matter. I was thinking he was in love with tutor girl but he's not. He said he thinks he's in love with me."

"I see drama queen was being a Brooke. And I see idiot was being Peyton. I told Jake I loved him even after he wouldn't even get past kissing me." Peyton exasperated, rubbing her hands over her face.

"I take it he didn't return the sentiment?"

"Not even close. I kinda kicked him out." Peyton added sheepishly.

"I see that's going around too. Lucas kicked me out as well. So what are we going to do about this P. Sawyer?"

"Listen to depressing music, gobbled down the rest of the rocky road in my freezer and cry over sappy love movies; which by the way you know I don't watch."

"WRONG! I'm gonna make Jake realize what an idiot he is and your gonna convince Lucas to give me another shot. " Brooke exclaimed as Peyton quirked up her eyebrow noticing the twinkle in Brooke's eye.

"I'm probably going to regret this but what do you have in mind?"

* * *

Lucas and Haley had sat in silence for too long. It wasn't that she didn't trust Lucas to tell him what happened a lifetime ago, she just decided that telling Nathan was enough drama without Lucas freaking out over it too. It astonished her how much Lucas had grown into the guy she knew he could be and she was glad that she took the step towards being his friend even though it might have cost her Nathan. No, scratch that; she would've lost Nathan regardless.

"So are you still in a pissy mood?" she asked breaking up the wave of silence.

"Yup." he replied simply.

"And what can we do to remedy this?"

"Hmm…rewind back to a couple of months ago and pretend that nothing changed? Or wait I got it. We could just slit our wrists and hope that our respective loved ones care enough to show up at the funeral."

"Hmm…moody much? Lucas trust me, the only way this could've turned out possibly differently is maybe, just maybe in some alternate universe you were the so called bastard child and Nathan and I had never met. Then you would've never met Ms. Popular and wouldn't be in your predicament." Haley replied.

"Yeah I could just see Nathan being popular and me being the nobody. Things would be simple then I guess."

"I don't think anything is simple. Look, I'm actually going to go beg that tigger we call Brooke to help me do this thing for the dance. I'll put in a good word for you too. " Haley said getting up and patting him on his leg. "Oh and don't stay too long in my room by yourself, it's kinda creepy and my mom will probably wonder if you're a kid she forgot she had." she laughed as Lucas cracked the first smile since entering her room.

"Later Hales."

Haley decided that she would ask for Peyton's artistic abilities as well and seeing how she was on a lot more friendly basis with Peyton, she figured she would head there first. She was surprised, although pleasantly might not be the best adjective, to find Brooke there was well. Oh well, might as well kill two birds with one stone.

"Uh, hi?" Haley cleared her throat, trying to get the attention of the two giggling girls in front of her.

"Tutor girl!" Brooke squealed rushing to hug Haley as she gave Peyton a confused look. Peyton just smirked and shrugged. "So have you talked to Lucas?"

"Yeah, I did. Now let me see which part I found more funny; the part where he was supposedly in love with me or the part where he might have kind of admitted he was in love with you and then kicked you out. Oh, I guess you didn't need that much info huh?" Haley joked as Brooke pouted. "Come on Brooke, it's not that dramatic!"

"Yes it is! Our love life is in shambles and you're saying it's not that bad. I mean look at you; you have this torrid history with hot shot who by the way is totally in love with you and you so are with him and can't get on the same page. Goldilocks over there can't get Saint Jake to go past kissing her and I can't even see when my very own Mr. McDreamy is in love with me." Haley and Peyton exchanged glances at the end of Brooke's tirade and busted into a fit of laughter. "What?"

"Mr. McDreamy, Brooke?" Haley asked.

"So I guess we know how you really feel about him now don't we? I can see it now: the thirteen year old version of yourself is writing "Brooke loves Lucas" and "Brooke Penelope Scott" on her notebook with massive hearts around them." Peyton laughed.

"Ok Ms. Blurt Out I Love You. I'm surprised those exact same sentiments aren't plastered all over your walls." Brooke retorted.

"Ladies, please. I'm here for a reason and it's not exactly to hear everyone complain about their love lives; err, lack there of. Formal is less than two weeks away and somehow I got stuck planning and decorating it and now you two are going to help me. And before you even ask why it's because right now, none of us have dates and/or boyfriends so we're going to have a lot of free time on our hands. Oh and I helped you out with cheerleading so you owe me. Good? Excellent, I knew you would agree. " Haley finished without letting Brooke and Peyton get in a word edgewise.

"You know, she brings up a good point." Brooke said and Peyton already saw the twinkle in her eye that she knew all to well as a plan formulating in that pretty little head of hers. "We couldn't figure it out before but now she's giving me something to go on."

"Care to clue us in?" Haley asked.

"So we spend the next two weeks planning this thing. We make sure that we dangle the guys just far enough to where we don't go with them but they come and not with anyone else. "

"We play hard to get." Peyton clarified.

"Exactly. That way when we show up at the formal looking totally hot and to die for they'll be wondering how in the hell that managed to think about ever leaving us, much less actually doing it."

"Ok I'm game." Peyton shrugged.

"Well as long as you guys help me I'll go along with little devious plan." Haley relented. "Even if it is a semi decent one." she grumbled underneath her breath.

"Thanks tutor girl."

* * *

Nathan and Jake had played one on one for a little while and were now resting on top of the table deep in their own thoughts. They both realized that they were jackasses and decided that they would do whatever possible to win the girls back.

"So I see that not all is right in the world with everyone." Lucas said as he sat on the other side of Jake. Nathan leaned forward and curiously looked at his half brother wondering why he was with them. He didn't say anything to him, just shrugged and let it be.

"We have to get them back." Jake said to no one in particular.

"Yup." Nathan and Lucas said at the same time.

"Your not trying to get Haley are you?" Nathan asked, anger lacing through his voice.

"Umm…no. Or Peyton." Lucas replied easing any worries Jake had as well. "It's Brooke."

"Well good luck with that. I knowing getting Haley to trust me again is going to hard. Oh and Jake buddy, same goes for you too." Nathan said.

"So uh, this is awkward. " Lucas cleared his throat.

"Yeah, so how bout we play some ball and worry about our pathetic excuse for love lives later. I'm done brooding with you two." Jake said, getting up and shooting the ball in the net. Nathan and Lucas shrugged and joined in.


	15. Just Breathe

**A/N: okay guys, here's the update. There's only two more chapters left...I know it's sad. But I'm thinking of writing a sequel...maybe. Let me know what you think. So enjoy this chapter, I think you'll like it. Review :)**

Just Breathe

Haley nervously glanced behind the curtain. She had no idea why she should be so nervous. It was only the day of the formal and Brooke said she was picking her up to get ready. No harm in that right? When she peeked back out the window she saw Peyton's car pull up in front of her house. She was confused but shrugged it off, grabbing her overnight bag, and headed downstairs. Giving her parents a quick goodbye she opened up the door and met Peyton half way up the walk.

"Eager much?" Peyton asked.

"Ha. More like nervous, want to throw up, run away and hide never see Nathan again kind of fear." Haley rambled as Peyton scrunched up her nose. "Too much information?"

"A little yeah. Look, don't worry so much. I see the way he keeps moping around. It's pathetic really. Oh and by the way, same goes for you."

"Thanks Peyt, really. I thought Brooke was picking me up anyway?"

"Oh you know Brooke." Peyton started. "Ok so maybe not that well but enough to know that she'll take longer to get ready than the two of us combined. So uh, shall we?" she gestured towards the car and Haley nodded. "So you never really said what happened that night in the basement." Peyton said once they were settled into the car and on their way.

"It's uh, kinda personal. No offense." Haley offered.

"It's cool. Geez, you're like a ball of nerves."

"Yeah, the biggest." she mumbled. They pulled up to Brooke's house and headed inside.

"Thank God you're finally here." Brooke exasperated once they entered her room.

"We're good. Thanks for asking Brooke." Peyton joked.

"Not now Fauxdilocks. We have work to do."

Three hours later, Brooke was putting the finishing touches on Haley's hair. They girls had barely said more than ten words put between them since they had arrived. Haley pretty much enjoyed the silence, but at the same time, it felt suffocating because all she could think about was that night and confronting Nathan.

"So how did you manage to avoid Hot Shot for the past two weeks?" Brooke asked, pulling the curling iron through a lock of Haley's hair.

"How did you manage to avoid Lucas and Jake when you have to practice with them everyday?" Haley retorted.

"Not easily." Peyton muttered as she put on her eye shadow. All three girls jerked their head up to the honking of what Haley assumed to be the limo that Brooke had graciously rented. All three looked out the window and let out their breaths, bracing themselves for the night that lay ahead of them.

* * *

Nathan couldn't stop fiddling with his tie as he finished getting dressed for the formal. He couldn't really tie the damn thing anyway and now that he didn't have Haley to help him he was pretty much hopeless. He gave her props though; as much as he had tried to connect with her over the past two weeks, he had failed. She had skillfully avoided him but he knew that she was going tonight and this was his chance.

"Hey man." Jake said coming into Nathan's room, not bothering to knock.

"See there's this thing called knocking; all the cool kids are doing it." Nathan retorted.

"Whatever man. Dude, you suck at tying a tie." Jake laughed coming over to him and helping him fix it. Nathan looked up and Jake quirked an eyebrow when they heard a knocking at the door. "Come in?"

"Aww, how sweet is this." Lucas muttered flinging himself on Nathan's bed. Nathan and Jake were both staring at him like he was crazy which he pretty much was.

""Did I miss something? Because last time I checked you and I weren't close enough to come into my room and lay on my bed without asking." Nathan stated.

"Well you said come in and this is the only comfortable seating." Lucas returned. "Besides, Haley still isn't talking to you. I'm pretty sure Peyton isn't talking to Jake and I know Brooke isn't talking to me so we're basically stuck together. Consider us Larry, Curly, and Moe."

"You are unbelievable." Nathan muttered grabbing his jacket from out of the closet.

"I'm also your big brother so deal."

"I think I have officially entered the twilight zone. The two of you not fighting and off of the court? Man the world is really off of its rocker." Jake laughed.

"So I guess this whole Operation Freeze Out really had worked huh?" Nathan asked.

"Apparently so and we see Peyton and Brooke everyday at practice." Lucas replied, still lying on the bed.

"At least you see them. I haven't even seen Haley in two weeks. Not even a glimpse." Nathan returned.

"Alright slackers lets hit the road. I've got someone to win back tonight and I think the two of you have your hands full too." Jake said grabbing his own jacket and heading out the door, followed closely by Nathan and Lucas.

* * *

Haley entered the converted gym turned dance floor and couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. And a nagging sense of foreboding. She looked down at her satin dress and wondered if Nathan would like it. She didn't have to wait long to see his reaction because once she looked up she locked eyes with him. Man, did he look handsome.

"You know, uh, maybe we should go check on the…the…um, lighting." Haley stammered, nodding in the direction of the three boys heading their way.

"Huh? What are you talking-oh, yeah, yeah, we really should go check the uh, something. Now." Brooke stuttered practically dragging a floored Peyton right behind Haley.

"I didn't think they'd be here so soon." Peyton whispered once they were behind the stage.

"I figured Nathan would be. I haven't seen or spoken to him in two weeks. He was probably camped outside the door." Haley joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Wait, were Lucas and Nathan actually getting along?" Brooke piped.

"Uh, " Haley started but stopped once she realized she wasn't quite sure. "Well they're not killing each other."

"Ok, well we can't hide behind the stage all night. Peyton you have to announce the band and supervise the music; Haley you have to make sure everything runs smoothly, and I have to be ready to be crowned queen. " Brooke commanded.

"Clearly you have to most important duty of the evening." Peyton deadpanned. "Fine, I'm going to talk to Mouth." she mumbled walking out from behind the curtain.

"What are you looking at me for?" Haley snapped as Brooke looked on with her hand on her hip.

"Go talk to him. To be so smart you are so dense sometimes."

"Ok." she said sweetly.

"Ok?" Brooke asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, as soon as you go talk to Lucas." Haley finished sarcastically before walking out from behind the curtain just as Peyton had done moments before.

* * *

Peyton stood beside Mouth looking through the music selection and discussing what song should be played for the King and Queen's dance. Peyton was so engrossed in the music, something that she had grown accustomed to that she didn't even notice Jake standing right in front of the table, patiently waiting to be seen.

"Alright, let me see who wins it and then I'll decided ok?" Peyton asked and Mouth nodded. It was then that she looked up and fell into the brown eyes of Jake. She sighed, and motioned for him to go someplace more private.

"Lets get this over with." she muttered once they reached the empty hallway.

"I love you too Peyton." Jake blurted out catching Peyton completely by surprise. She searched for the right words to say once she gained her bearing.

"Don't just say that to say it. I didn't say it for it to be returned. I just thought you should know it in a blurt it out not really meaning to kind of way."

"Yeah I get that but I love you." Jake repeated.

"Alright but what kind of love it is? It is like the I love you in that let you pick the radio station, hold a stereo above you your head, let you eat the last piece of red velvet cake kind of love? Or it is the I'm just so comfortable around you and the whole friends with benefits suits us just fine kind of friend-"

"I don't eat red velvet cake but I would for you and I would definitely give you the last piece." Jake whispered once he had interrupted her rant with a powerful kiss.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd say that." she whispered throwing herself into his arms and kissing him once more.

* * *

Brooke wandered around the gym, going from table to table, mingling amongst all of her classmates. None of which were the ones she really wanted to talk to. She walked over to the punch and snack table sighing before taking a drink of her punch. What she wouldn't give to go back to that day in the tutoring center and tell him that she loved him back.

"I love you Lucas." she whispered to herself.

"Good to know." Lucas whispered in her ear and she turned around to face him. "Course, I always knew you had a thing for me pretty girl." he smiled.

"I have been looking everywhere for you all night!" she yelled pushing him on his chest.

"Glad you're clearly happy to see me." he mocked. "By the way, it might have been simpler to just say 'hey' to me at practice or in English…you know something along the lines of 'I know you're alive and all, I'm just choosing to ignore you so that come time for formal I can whisper to myself that I love you.' " Lucas teased.

"Do you want me to punch you or kiss you?"

"Hmm…kinda kinky. " Lucas pretended to think and tried to run as Brooke lunged after him. He pulled her to his arms and touched the tip of her nose.

"I want you to love me." he whispered seriously.

"I do Lucas."

"Good. Now we can dance." he said kissing her sweetly before pulling her onto the dance floor.

* * *

Haley smiled as she watched Brooke clinging to Lucas, smiling as he whispered something into her ear. Then there was Peyton and Jake who were kissing in the corner and laughing in between at whatever banter they were slinging around. Haley felt a bit envious; their love was easy, uncomplicated. The history, the secrets, the lies of her relationship with Nathan had somehow tainted the love they had she thought.

"Come with me outside." Nathan whispered in her ear; something so simple that sent shivers down her spine. She contemplated for a minute whether or not she was ready for this confrontation. She realized that she couldn't run forever.

She nodded, accepting his outreached hand and held it as he led her outside. She wasn't sure what the outcome of this conversation would be but she had decided that whatever fate dealt her tonight she would deal with it. Whether or not Nathan was part of the destiny that she held.

"I've missed you." he said, still clutching her hand. Her brow crinkled as she thought of what to say.

"I've feel like a piece of my heart has been ripped out." she whispered. "That's how much I missed you." she said taking her eyes off the ground and looking into his.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't realize that something had happened to you back then. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you told me. I'm not sorry for loving you. Not once have I ever been." Nathan finished just as the rain was starting to fall down. "You remember that day last year when we were in the park and we were reading and we fell asleep and we woke up because it started pouring? You got up and started twirling in circles. I don't think you've ever looked more beautiful. I fell in love with you that day Hales. And I never stopped." Nathan finished taking a surprised Haley into his arms and kissing her passionately.

"I was wrong." she shouted through the rain, once they pulled apart for air. Nathan looked on confused and she continued. "I was wrong to push you away that morning after you made love to me. I was wrong not to tell you about the baby then. You are my best friend and I love you so much. I should be the one who's sorry. " she finished placing his hand on her heart. "There, in there. That rapidly beating heart? That's all yours."

"So you're really in love with me?" Nathan asked. She looked at him for a few moments and standing right there in the rain, her perfectly made up hair in tangles around her face, he fell in love with her all over again.

"It was a boy." she confessed, and although the rain shielded most of her face, her eyes told him that she was crying. "I think a piece of me died that day. But I've come to realize that without you in my life it means nothing. I can have more children Nathan. I can do that. I want it all with you. I want to wake up in your arms everyday. I want to drive the god forsaken minivan full of our children. I want to be the soccer mom. I want all that and I want it with you. Yes, I am in love with you. And yes, I want to be with you. I want to try."

Through the rain and the confessions, lost in their own world, neither noticed the announcement of King and Queen. Nathan Scott and Haley James. How they managed to pull that off, they didn't know and it didn't matter. Haley would rather be standing in the rain with him any day. She was in love and she felt alive.

They faintly heard "She Will Be Loved", the music Peyton had picked out for their dance. The dance they now shared soaking wet but in each other's arms; happy and in love. Their song.

"I love you Haley." Nathan said into her ear.

"I love you too Nathan." she said kissing him softly.

"I could stay like this forever you know." he said once they broke apart and she started deep into his eyes searching for the strength to say the two words that had just popped into her mind. There, that love and that devotion. That was her motivation.

"Marry me."


	16. And Sometimes All You Need Is One

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys. To all those who read this story at the Tutoring Center, you'll know that this was my last chapter. However, I have added one final chapter to it which I will post soon depending on the reviews for this story. So, leave lots of reviews so you'll know the ending. ;) Enjoy. **

…and Sometimes All You Need is One

Nathan turned over, against the streaming light of the sun that poured into the window and came face to face with Haley. His Haley. Finally. Her hair was still in loose ringlets around her face from the rain of the previous two days. The night of the formal and yesterday. The day she became his wife.

"Morning." she smiled, her eyes still closed. "How long have you been awake?" she stretched.

"Just a few minutes." he whispered, entwining his fingers in her own. "We'll always be this way?"

"Sleepy?" she joked. "In love? Married? Together? Of course. I'm not letting you go this time. I can't believe we got married yesterday."

"I can't believe you got to propose to me." he laughed. "That's suppose to be my job."

"Yeah, maybe in another lifetime buddy."

Flashback

"_Marry me." Haley stated more than questioned. The rain was still pouring down around them but she didn't care. She just loved him and that's all that mattered._

"_Now?" he questioned and she nodded._

"_Well maybe not this second…"_

"_Come on, let's get inside my car so we're not soaked anymore." _

"_Nathan I could love you forever. I mean it." Haley announced once they were settled into the car._

"_I know you do." he said seriously. "Haley, normal people don't just get married in high school."_

"_We're not normal Nathan. I don't want to be normal. I love you-"_

"_I love you too."_

"_So I'll say it again. I could love you forever. I will love you forever. I gave you my heart last summer and I can't take that back. So why can't forever start now? We're seniors, we're about to graduate and I, just say yes Nathan."_

"_You realize that you've already gotten into my pants right? This isn't some ploy to sleep with me again is it?" he teased and she playfully punched him in the arm._

"_I'm serious Nathan. This is a big thing for me. But I mean it. I'm not saying it so I don't lose you or anything like that, I just, love you."_

"_You really think this could work?" he asked cautiously, his brow furrowing, signaling that he was seriously considering all options. _

"_I don't know." she replied honestly. "But I do know that I love you. I know that whatever happens, I'll put up one helluva fight to keep us together. Make up for all the fight I put up to keep us apart. I can love you, that's the easy part. We don't always get along. We have no double CD's. You hate the taste of my clothes. I can make it alright. We can do this." she said convincingly pulling his hands into her own. _

"_What about our parents?" _

"_Well considering we're both eighteen, there's not a whole lot they can do about it. They might not be happy but they'll adjust. We're adults now, it's time we start thinking like it."_

"_School?"_

"_You're gonna go to Duke just like we always planned." she assured._

"_And what about Stanford for you?" he asked. She let her head hang low and whispered a response. "What was that?"_

"_I can go to Duke too. All those people at Stanford would mean nothing because none of them would be you. Don't look at me like that Nathan. It's not a big deal."_

"_It is a big deal Hales. That's your dream. It always has been." _

"_And all of a sudden I can't change my mind? I'm a girl. I have that birth right." she retorted. _

"_Hales…"_

"_Yes or no Nathan." she said firmly, hoping and praying that he would say yes. It scared her, either answer, but whatever he said would be the breaking point. The would be stronger for it or tear them apart._

_Nathan sat in the silence for a few minutes, heavily weighing all his options. It wasn't the fact that he was in love with her; there was no doubt about that. He didn't want to rush into anything; they had in fact finally admitted that they were both in love with each other. It terrified him, marriage, but what was scarier was his life without her. And she was right, why couldn't that start now?_

"_Yes." he whispered finally after minutes of silence. She looked up from the spot she was staring at outside and stared into his eyes. "Yes." he repeated, making sure she understood. _

"_Yes." she muttered to herself making sure that she heard correctly. She looked at him for a moment before leaning over and capturing his lips in a sweet and lingering kiss. "I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

End Flashback

Nathan and Haley were both on their backs, staring up at the ceiling as if both were remembering the events that had transpired that night. At the same time they both looked over at each other and smiled. They felt like they were in there own little world. Both had received phone calls from their friends wondering what had happened to them in the past two days but neither had bothered to divulge the news. Haley simply sent Brooke a text message saying that they were ok and to not bother them anymore. That had seemed to do the trick.

"Where are you're parents?" Nathan asked, pulling them out of their quiet reverie.

"Hmm? Oh they're in…Atlanta. I think. Or Athens."

"HALEY!" they both jerked up to the voices of Haley's parents from down the stairs.

"Or Tree Hill. Downstairs. Now." Nathan said, scrambling to pull his pants on. "Do you think we should, you know, tell them?" he asked from across the bed. Haley looked up from her own dressing and started at him like he was a moron.

"I can't tell my parents that I'm married! Oh God, they're gonna know that you deflowered me! Oh my…they'll never look at me the same." she rambled before tripping over a pant leg and falling down on the floor. "Oww." Nathan rushed around the bed and gave her a hand which she gratefully accepted.

"Haley? Deflowered? That's already been done." he smirked, which quickly turned into a frown. "And if I didn't do it than Lucas sure as hell did."

"Hey, that's not fair. Oh crap, I think they're coming up the stairs. Quick, in the closet." she said grabbing his hand and thrusting him into the opened door.

"Haley dear, " her mother said coming into the room, just as Haley had closed the closet door, and was leaning against it. "I heard a thud, are you alright?"

"Yeah, mom I'm fine. Just klutzy and fell right over my pants. So what are you doing home so soon?" she asked, catching her breath and trying her best to not look frazzled.

"Honey, we emailed you yesterday to tell you that we were coming back this morning. Did you not check you're mail?"

"Nope, sure didn't. I was kinda, preoccupied yesterday." she answered, her back still guarding the closet door. She flinched and kept her eyes closed when she heard the sound of crashing objects and a loud thud come from inside the closet.

"Step aside please." he mother said sternly and Haley did as she was told. She nervously bit on finger tip as her mother opened of the door. "Nathan, so good to see you. Won't you come out?" she asked sweetly and Nathan did as he was told too. He went past Mrs. James and stood beside Haley. "So spill it."

"I spent the night and we didn't think it would look at good and so I hid." Nathan tried to explain.

"Uh huh." Mrs. James responded, unconvinced. Haley was still chewing on her finger, her eyes darting around. Guilty. "Haley." she commanded and all at once Haley looked up and stared at her mother.

"We got married." she blurted and Nathan visibly winced. He expected a slap, a kick, yelling, anything. Not the gut laughter that was pouring out of Mrs. James.

"So much for keeping it a secret." Nathan muttered.

"You're kidding right? No, no. This isn't funny Haley." she finally replied. "Downstairs now." she commanded, stepping aside and pointing out the door in which both obediently followed. "Jimmy! Kitchen! Haley's pregnant." she yelled once they settled into the center island.

"God, no Mom, I'm not." Haley said furiously as Lydia looked at her curiously.

"What was that?" Jimmy James mumbled coming into the kitchen, still reading the paper.

"Tell him Haley."

"Daddy…"

"So this is expensive huh?"

"I, we, we got married yesterday." she whispered, forcing her head down to the ground.

"We're you ever this ashamed of us marrying when we tied to knot?" Jimmy asked his wife. He shook her head no, her eyes still focused on their little girl. A wife. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes, Daddy. I love him." she replied, squeezing Nathan's hand and locking eyes with her father.

"And you Nathan, you love my little girl? Are you going to take care of her? Protect her always?" he asked.

"Always and forever." he promised and both he and Haley smiled at the wedding vow he had made the day before.

"Then I guess there's nothing we can do but say congratulations and hope for the best. Right Lydia?"

"It's about time you two figured it all out." she agreed, winking and pulling both into a hug. Jimmy hug his daughter and shook hands with his now son in law. "Does your mother know Nathan?"

"No ma'am."

"Well I think you two should get cleaned up and go tell her."

Half and hour later, that's exactly where they ended up. Sitting, together, holding hands, across from Deb sitting on the couch. She looked worried, and from Haley could understand about a husband's mother, she should have been. Deb had eagerly enveloped Haley into a hug when they had first arrived and she could only hope that by the end of this conversation she would still feel the same way.

"We got married." Nathan blurted and both Deb and Haley looked on in shock.

"You couldn't have eased into that?" Haley whispered through clenched teeth.

"Married." Deb said, catching her bearing. "My eighteen year old son had gotten married to his best friend who I didn't even know he was dating."

"We weren't dating." Haley clarified.

"So what are you pregnant? Were you drunk? High? Anything?" she asked, anger slightly hinted in her voice.

"In love." Nathan simply replied. "Look, I know you might not like this mom-"

"You're damn right. How could you? You have you're whole lives. I didn't want this for you. When I told you that you two would end up married someday I didn't mean someday soon!"

"Mom, stop it. I love her. Either accept this marriage or not. But you're not going to yell at me or my wife. I want you to be happy for me. I'm not giving up anything or deferring my dreams. It's just something we wanted. Something that's not going to change."

"Haley, you know I love you like a daughter. I always have, but don't you see?" Deb pleaded to Haley.

"I see my husband begging you for some understanding. I don't believe you have to be a certain age to be in love or to be married. I'm not pretending that it'll be easy or a piece of cake. I know it'll be hard. It'll be work. But it will also be worth it. You made your life just fine as a single mom. Nobody had the faith in you to do so. It would be nice if the people we care about the most had the faith in our marriage." Haley responded.

"I have faith in you two." she whispered, finally letting her tears fall. Haley instantly got up and wrapped her arms around her mother in law.

"I know it's hard for you ok? It's hard period. I mean it though. I love your son more than anything. Just please, be happy for us."

"I'm happy if he's happy." she said looking up at her son who in return nodded, signaling that he was. He looked then to his wife, who wasn't looking and it was then that Deb understood just how much love they shared. The love in his eyes spoke volumes.

* * *

The next day, the sun shining brightly for the first time in two days, Nathan and Haley said their vows for their parents. On a small bluff, overlooking the vast expanse of ocean they promised themselves to each other. With both Haley's parents and Nathan's mom, they slipped their simple gold wedding bands onto the other's finger.

"Someday, this beach might wash away…the oceans may dry…the sun could dim but on that day, I'll still be loving you. Always and forever. I promise you Haley."

"I, Haley, take you Nathan. To have and to hold, from this day forward. In sickness and in health. For richer or poorer. For better or worse. I promise, that I will love and cherish you. And will deny all those that would come between us. I make this promise for eternity. I promise that I will keep forever… Until the end of time. Till death do us part."

No, the whole world didn't know they were married. Not even their closest friend knew. They knew though, they always knew, in their hearts. They were meant for each other. They didn't know what lie ahead of them. They just had right now and this moment. As they settled into sleep that night, wrapped up in each others arms they dreamt of their life together from that moment on. Past aside, they had the future. Tomorrow, the world would know. For now, they had each other. That was enough for them.

**For any confusion, in my mind they got married at the courthouse the day after formal and the wedding on the beach was a vow renewal. K? Hit the little button right there and leave a review. **


	17. When You Come Back To Me Again

**A/N: Okay here's the last chapter. It would've been up last week but the site wouldn't let me update. So enjoy and drop some words. :)**

When You Come Back to Me Again

Nathan's eyes fluttered open trying to adjust to the dim light of a hospital room. His head throbbed as intense flashes of pain shot through his skull. The last thing he remembered was hitting a brick wall at over 100 miles per hour. And then his dream. Wow. He didn't think he ever recalled such a vivid dream.

"_So this is kinda weird; me being here with you in a coma. Well it's pretty weird period. I barely know you and yet here I am completely concerned and worried about you. Everyone is really though. We need you to get better though so everyone can stop stressing over you. Well, get better soon."_

"Nate?" his head turned towards the timid voice that emitted from the small frame of the girl in the chair beside his bed.

Haley.

His Haley.

She was home.

"What…what are you doing here?" he croaked out visibly confused.

"I uh, I just came for a visit." She replied giving him a small smile. He tried to sit up but failed horribly as she rushed to his side helping him sit up.

God how he had missed her touch.

"You shouldn't be moving so much right now; you're kinda in a delicate condition." She told him reaching over and grabbing a glass of water. Helping him take a sip, he never took his eyes off of her.

"What are you doing here Hales?" he finally asked her. She gave him a confused look and set the glass back down on the table.

"I told you I came for a visit. I know we kinda left things weird, I suppose and I realize we're not all that close…"

"Close?" he scoffed and she made a face at his hostility. "A visit? You can't just come in here and pretend things are okay with us."

"I…I'm sorry. I just, I assumed that with our last conversation and all…I thought we were okay." She stumbled over her words as she shifted her weight on the bed.

"Well you assumed wrong. Why don't you go back to the tour and Keller okay?"

"Tour?" she questioned her brow furrowing over her brown eyes. Nathan's own did the same as he noticed the honesty of her face. "Who's Keller?"

"Yeah you know the rock tour you left town with they guy with the big hair; Chris Keller? Ring any bells?"

"Um, not really."

"Hales, knock it off. Just because you sit there and pretend that nothing happened doesn't make it not true. For someone so smart you're acting pretty dumb." He spat and she visibly winced.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about."

She bit her lip just like she always did when she was nervous or uncomfortable and began twisting her hands in her lap. Nathan sighed and rested his head back up against pillow and decided that looking anywhere but at her was his best bet. Suddenly, the pale peach wallpaper coating the walls was very interesting.

He didn't understand why she was playing coy; why she was acting like nothing tragic has transpired between them. Finally, his eyes stopped darting around the sterile room and landed on her who was now focusing on her hands intently. With a start he realized she didn't look the same. Gone were the stylish clothes of a rock star that accompanied her blonde hair. In its place were jeans and a t shirt as her brown hair fell loosely on her shoulders.

"Where's Lucas?" he asked after a few minutes of thick silence and he was surprised when she giggled a bit.

"You wanna know where Lucas is?" she repeated, amusement lacing her voice.

"Yeah, Lucas, my brother." He returned sarcastically to which she let a deep laugh bellow out of her mouth. "What's so damn funny?"

"It's just that…wow. You must've hit you're head pretty hard to call Lucas you're brother."

"Is Lucas not my brother?"

"Well yeah but last time I checked you didn't exactly feel that way. In fact, I think the most brotherly thing you've done was throw him in some mud. Granted that was about ten years too late because generally that's okay to do that when you're five but you know…"

"That you ramble all the time?" he finished grinning slightly as she chuckled. "You shouldn't have come."

"Oh." She said almost dejectedly. "Well I felt bad enough that I hadn't visited you in the past week that you've been here."

"I don't blame you for not coming sooner. I wouldn't really blame you if you didn't come at all. You were probably a thousand miles away doing God knows what with Keller."

"Who the hell is this Keller person you keep talking about?" Haley finally blew out irritated.

"Oh how soon we forget huh? You know, the flaming guitarist that took you away from me."

"Well if he was 'flaming' as you claim, than what exactly did you have to worry about?" she retorted to which Nathan rolled his eyes. "I'm just going to go get the doctor…" she said getting up. She bent over to grab her bag revealing the small of her back.

The number 23 did not grace her smooth skin.

Without thinking Nathan reached out and ran his fingertips over the bare area and on reflex Haley jerked up and spun around. Nathan slowly retracted his hand and replaced it by his side. Haley's hand reached around to touch where his fingers once had and

"It's gone."

"What's gone?"

"You're tattoo."

"Um, I'm going to go get the doctor now. You're really starting to freak me out…" she murmured trying to step away. He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could get too far and without realizing it, stepped back towards him and took a seat on the bed.

"What happened?" he asked and she looked from where she was staring at their friends intertwined to his face. "The last thing I remember is slamming into that wall at well over a hundred miles per hour."

"Uh, well it was more like fifty into a telephone poll." She responded and he gave her blank stare. "You dropped me off and then ran into a pole with Peyton's car. Drunk by the way, which was totally stupid. Then Luke found you."

"I walked away from that accident months ago." Nathan argued and Haley shook her head. "I walked away and Peyton broke up with me. Than after I got over being a jackass, with your help I might add, we got together. I asked you to marry me and you said yes. We said 'I do' on the beach and we had a pretty good marriage until you ran away on a rock tour with Chris Keller."

Haley sucked in her breath and gulped at the information Nathan was spitting out. None of it made sense…at all…but at the same time it felt oddly right. Like if she had thought long and hard enough, she could remember all the same things. Or maybe they were all just fabrications of her overactive imagination.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard." She laughed and he frowned. This day kept getting weirder and he didn't know what to make of it. He didn't know how he felt if what all she was saying was true.

They _never_ happened?

"I'm, I'm sorry to freak you out. I just had this really vivid dream and I dunno it kinda freaked me out myself."

"You know, I think was freaked me out the most was that you were calling Luke you're brother. All the other stuff, that wasn't so bad. Except I wouldn't get a tattoo or get married at sixteen. Or run away with a flaming guitarist/singer." She replied bending over and giving him a hug. He didn't know how to react at first but soon natural instinct took over and he was wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame. "I'm glad you're okay." She whispered in his ear before letting go.

Her hand was still tangled in his own and tentatively he reached over and grabbed the other one. Slowly he began rubbing small circles with his thumb relishing in the feel of her touch. She allowed it, enjoyed it, all the while not knowing why. Finally she willed herself to look at him and gave him a small smile before pulling up his hand and placing a kiss in his palm.

"I'll be seeing you okay?" she said losing contact and getting up.

"Haley," he started latching onto her hand to which she spun around. She searched his eyes and bit her lip all the while waiting for the words to come from his mouth. "Thanks for coming back."

"I never left." She smiled giving his hand one last squeeze before waving and exiting the room.

* * *

Nathan spent the next two days trying to believe the reality he was facing now was the dream. Even with the bad times, his time, his marriage, his love with Haley was the best time. He hadn't seen her and didn't really blame her but all the same, the hollow feeling in his gut remained when she wasn't around.

He was being discharged today and despite the overwhelming visitors that clamored to see him, only his mom was allowed. And Peyton. He didn't know how he could fall in love with someone through a dream but whatever it was that he was feeling wasn't fair to Peyton. So he broke things off and she seemed more than relieved with the whole thing.

After sneaking out under his mother's watchful eye, he ended up at her house. A house that he had stood in front of before; mostly for forgiveness. Now, he wasn't sure what he was doing here. He wasn't sure if he would freak her out more or scare her away or fall into his arms but whatever it was that she did, he had to try. So he waited for the courage to come to him and after twenty minutes of staring at her front door he made the move to go in.

"I hope you're not planning on throwing pebbles at my window because that would be bit cliché don't you think?" Nathan turned around to see Haley walking up her pathway to where he was standing.

"Well I was just going to knock on the door but since you're here now…"

"What are you doing here Nathan?" she asked getting straight to the point.

"I can't explain myself, " he started stepping closer to her "but I just had to see you."

"Are you sure the doctors cleared you okay and competent?"

"Yeah, I know I'm acting like a crazy person right now but I woke up in that hospital room and it wasn't the same reality. Everything changed; everything I thought I knew is gone. I don't know how to deal with that."

"Well you're definitely right about the crazy person part. Look, I don't know what you went through when you were in a coma but whatever it was, it wasn't real. This right here, right now is the reality you faced with. So deal with it. You don't know how? Well, you will."

"So I'm just supposed to forget it ever happened?" he asked and she nodded. "No, no because it was real. If it wasn't real than we never were and I have to believe that we were. That we are. Because right now, standing right here I can honestly say that I'm in love with you. I don't know how or why this happened but there it is."

"You don't know anything about me to be in love with me." Was her weak response.

"You bite you're finger tip when you're nervous." He said to which she instantly dropped her hand from her mouth. "You bite you're lower lip when you don't know what to say. You're afraid that, even though you're incredibly smart and talented, you're going to fail. But you're not because of you're brain and you're ability to sing will take you places. I know it will. You're favorite food is macaroni and cheese and you're favorite singer is Sheryl Crow."

"How do you…"

"When you sleep at night you let out these little sighs that make me think you're dreaming of me. You're always cold and because I'm always warm, when I hold you in my arms at night it's the perfect fit. You love playing in the rain and you could care less about what anyone thinks of you. You like little purple wildflowers and the way sand squishes between you're toes. I can tell by the look on you're face I'm freaking you out again but if I don't say this now I can't convince you take the chance on me. And I've got a lifetime to make up for the stuff I'm missing out on. With you."

"Okay. Wow. " Haley replied nodding her head slowly. "For some reason I don't feel like you've been stalking me which would be the obvious explanation right now. I don't know what you want me to say to you."

"You don't have to say anything. You just have to give me a chance to prove to you that all that I say is true. I'm not supposed to know all those things about you but I do. I know I sound like a complete fool right now but I do love you Haley James. Just give me the chance to let you fall in love with me too."

"This is by far the most insane thing I have ever heard. Just when I think nothing can surprise me more…" she started but was cut off as Nathan leaned in and kissed her gently. "Except that. You shouldn't have done that."

"I wanted to." He chuckled slightly as nearly the same scenario of his dream played out before his very eyes. His smile to bigger once she touched her lips, looked at him, and launched herself into his arms kissing him longer and deeper.

"Okay." She said simply once they parted, her small frame still wrapped firmly in his arms.

"Okay?"

"So help you if you mess up or lie to me or do anything to hurt me. But okay, I'll take that chance with you. Don't say I never gave you anything though."


	18. Authors Note

Hey guys...I know it's been eons since I've update any of my stories. My world kind of exploded eight months ago and I lost all inspiration. I'm terribly sorry. However, after reviewing my stories, I plan to revamp some old ones and start writing again. So bear with me and I'll try to start writing again. Thanks, Amanda 


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